Fire crews knock down flames sparked by bathroom remodel in Derry Township

Fire crews knocked down Wednesday afternoon an attic fire at a Derry Township home that was sparked during a bathroom remodeling.

Crews were called to a home in the 4000 block of Route 982 around 1:20 p.m., Bradenville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mark Piantine said.

A relative of the homeowners was using a torch to solder a copper pipe in the bathroom when a piece of insulation made contact with the flames, Piantine said. The relative doused the insulation with water, but the fire rekindled and spread into the attic.

The relative doing the remodel suffered burns on their hands, Piantine said, but no one else was injured.

Vermiculite insulation, typically seen in older homes, is a nuisance for fire departments, Piantine said.

“It is a pain, believe me,” he said. “You’d think you’d get it out and it would just smolder. It dries out and goes up again.”

Crews accessed the attic through a 2-by-2-foot crawl space, first spraying into the attic from afar before scaling a folding ladder into the space.

It took crews about two hours to put out the flames.

Fire crews from Latrobe Hose Company 5, Crabtree, Lloydsville, Derry Borough, Greensburg and Youngstown assisted Bradenville in knocking down the flames, Piantine said.

“As always, we worked together to get the job done,” Piantine said.

The family is staying at a relative’s house until they are able to make repairs. The Red Cross is assisting.