Fire Destroys Western Pennsylvania Wire and Steel Factory

A state police fire marshal is investigating a blaze that destroyed a wire and steel factory near Pittsburgh.

Monday evening’s fire sent thick smoke and flames into the air in Houston, a community about 15 miles south of Pittsburgh near Interstate 79.

The Tatano Wire and Steel plant was idle when the fire was reported shortly after 6 p.m. The owner’s son, Jim Tatano, says the plant operates only when special orders are needed for the family-owned business which is based in nearby Canonsburg. Tatano says nobody had been working in the factory for about three weeks.

It took four fire companies about two hours to control the blaze.