Local News
Kerosene recall raises questions about Amish woman's death
LACKAWANNOCK TOWNSHIP — State agencies said Thursday they don’t know if tainted kerosene from an Allegheny County distributor may have caused the June 21 fire that led to a Lackawannock Township Amish woman's death.
Ada Kurtz, 25, died six days after suffering burns in a fire sparked after pouring what she thought was kerosene into a wood-burning water heater at her home. Authorities say the can contained gasoline.
Pittsburgh Terminals Corp., of Coraopolis, issued a recall Wednesday on all kerosene they distributed between May 1 and Tuesday, warning the substance they sold may contain traces of gasoline and could potentially be explosive.
Mrs. Kurtz bought what she believed to be kerosene at Pitzer's Gulf Service Station, 212 New Castle St., New Wilmington, police said.
Vapors apparently flared as she lit the water heater, firefighters said.
New Wilmington fire Chief Gary Wagner said the container Mrs. Kurtz used contained gasoline, not kerosene.
The fire was ruled accidental and New Wilmington police Chief Carmen Piccirillo said Thursday after learning of the recall he still maintains that ruling.
“Nobody's making an allegation of any criminal activity,” he said. “This really isn't a police matter. None of it is.”
The Department of Environmental Protection probed Pitzer's tanks and found no leaks, Freda Tarbell, a community relations coordinator in DEP's Meadville office said.
DEP isn't authorized to do any sort of chemical analysis and only checks on incidents involving handling and storage, she said.
Piccirillo said he served as a witness to an oil company taking samples of the kerosene, but couldn't remember the company's name.
An attendant at Pitzer's said he wasn't sure who supplies the station's kerosene and that owner Bob Pitzer was out of town.
A message left with Pittsburgh Terminals to see if it supplies Pitzer's kerosene wasn't returned. A spokesperson for the company said they've been swamped with calls in the wake of the recall.
Lawrence County state Trooper Jan Wilson said she investigated the station after the fire and believed the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Weights and Measures tested the substance.
The bureau only tests for quality and didn't do an analysis of the kerosene, Nicole Bucher of the department's press office said.
Bucher said she wasn't sure if any state agency had examined Pitzer's supply.
Anyone who bought kerosene in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and the southwestern border of New York were warned by Pittsburgh Terminals not to use it.
The company asks those who bought it from retailers in those area during the time frame to return it for a refund or replacement.
A malfunctioning valve at the Coraopolis warehouse led to the problem, the company said.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
