An accidental fire, which occurred when no one was home, heavily damaged a kitchen in a rental apartment on Mt Pleasant Road on the night of Friday, January 24.

Fire officials said there were no human injuries in the incident that occurred at 119 Mt Pleasant Road (Route 6) in Hawleyville.

Fire Marshal Rich Frampton said his investigation indicated that the likely cause of the blaze was a frisky pet cat, which was inside the apartment, who apparently jumped onto a propane-fired range, and in so doing, struck one of the stove’s control knobs, causing a burner to turn on. The flames in the burner then apparently ignited flammable objects, resulting in the blaze.

The cat died in the incident either due to smoke inhalation or a lack of oxygen, he said. Efforts to revive the cat were unsuccessful.

Mr Frampton said firefighters received a call for help from the resident of the dwelling at 10:54 pm. The woman, who had been away from her residence for a time, on her return discovered the fire-damaged apartment where the blaze had burnt itself out due to a lack of oxygen, he said.

Hawleyville and Hook & Ladder firefighters responded to the call. Firefighters used thermal imaging cameras to learn whether the fire had spread into walls. They also used high-powered fans to clear the dwelling of smoke.

Mr Frampton estimated damage to the small building at approximately $50,000. It is owned by Prithvi PC. The compact structure is located directly behind Mt Pleasant Hospital for Animals.

Although there are other residential buildings nearby, no one discovered the fire while it was underway, Mr Frampton said.

The fire- and smoke-damaged residence is not habitable and woman who lives there is staying elsewhere. The American Red Cross responded to the fire scene to aid the woman and some other people who live nearby who were adversely affected by the incident.

The burnt building’s owner plans to repair the damage caused by the fire, Mr Frampton said. The structure is insured.

Hawleyville Fire Chief John Basso said the kitchen received char damage and other sections of the one-bedroom apartment had smoke damage. Firefighters spent about 75 minutes at the scene.

Hawleyville Deputy Fire Chief Paul Basso was incident commander.