Erie fire, police investigating cause of East 24th St. fire that damaged 2 houses, vehicle

Tim Hahn, Erie Times-News
Updated ·2 min read

Erie Bureau of Fire investigators and city police are investigating the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a single-family house and caused damage to a neighboring residence in an eastside neighborhood early Monday morning.

A GMC sport-utility vehicle parked on the west side of the house at 445 E. 24th St. was also heavily damaged by a fire that Erie County 911 said was first reported Monday at 12:23 a.m.

People who were inside both residences at the time of the fire escaped without injury, officials reported.

Erie police held the fire scene as a possible crime scene Monday morning, with yellow tape strung around the front of the house and with a city police officer in a patrol vehicle stationed near it. Members of the Erie Bureau of Fire's Fire Prevention and Investigation unit and Erie police are investigating the cause of the fire.

Shawn McGarvie, who lives at 445 E. 24th St., said Monday morning that he was out making deliveries for DoorDash when a neighbor "blew my phone up" and reported that McGarvie's house was on fire. McGarvie said he raced home to find his house engulfed in flames.

McGarvie said four to five people, adults and children, were inside the house at the time but got out. He said they lost four pets, two dogs and two cats, in the fire.

The Erie Bureau of Fire and Erie police are investigating the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a house at 445 E. 24th St. on the early morning of July 10, 2023, and spread to a neighboring house, causing some damage to it.
The Erie Bureau of Fire and Erie police are investigating the cause of a fire that heavily damaged a house at 445 E. 24th St. on the early morning of July 10, 2023, and spread to a neighboring house, causing some damage to it.

Erie firefighters arrived on the scene to find the three-story residence with heavy fire on all three floors, Erie fire Deputy Chief Fred Gillespie said. Because of the volume of fire, crews started with a defensive attack from outside of the structure before they were eventually able to get inside, he said.

The fire spread to a neighboring house at 447 E. 24th St., causing some exterior and interior damage to that house, Gillespie said.

All of the on-duty Erie Bureau of Fire companies were sent to the fire scene, and some off-duty companies were called in during the fire. No firefighters were injured in fighting the fire, Gillespie said.

Firefighters remained on the scene for about five hours Monday morning.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie fire, police investigating cause of fire that damaged 2 houses