Five Row Houses Damaged in Suspicious Pa. Blaze

Five Allentown homes were damaged, three of them extensively, in a late Friday morning fire that might have been intentionally set, city fire officials said.

The fire started around 11:30 a.m. in the 200 block of Jordan Street, sending plumes of smoke more than 100 feet in the air. Flames could be seen from the second and third floors of a home at 203 N. Jordan St., just off Turner Street.

Battalion Chief Phillip Atiyeh said the fire might have been the result of arson.

"It's still under investigation," he said, "but initial indications are that that's possible." City Fire Marshal Mike Barron is leading the inquiry.

Assistant Chief Lee Laubach said the fire was under control by noon, but several homes were deemed uninhabitable. No one was injured, he said.

Laubach said the fire appears to have started in the upper floors of 203 N. Jordan St. He said a power line was knocked down, but it had nothing to do with the cause of the fire.

He said the second and thirds floors had fire damage, along with heavy smoke and water damage. The neighboring homes, 201 and 205 N. Jordan St., had third-floor fire damage and heavy smoke damage. He said 207 and 209 N. Jordan St. had smoke damage.

Dozens of onlookers watched as firefighters battled the blaze. Some ran underneath police caution tape looking for family members. Laubach said everyone in the homes made it out safely.

Laubach said at least three families will be unable to return to their homes. Fire crews contacted the Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley to provide assistance for two adults and five children, according to emergency radio reports.

According to Lehigh County property records, the 203 N. Jordan St. house is owned by Andrew Sullivan of Hatfield, Montgomery County.

Copyright 2012 - The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service