Irwin business, apartment building damaged by early Saturday blaze

The air still smelled of smoke as Don Sowash took his 11-year-old Morkie, Benny, for a walk down Irwin’s Main Street on Saturday afternoon, pausing at a building he saw engulfed in flames just 12 hours prior.

“Lots of smoke (was) pouring out all of these upper windows, and I saw firemen making holes, making entrances into these top windows here,” he said.

Sowash, 58, awoke to the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department’s fire alarm blaring just before 2 a.m., he said. About 20 minutes later, he was out the door with Benny to survey the commotion.

Located in the 400 block of Main Street, the building damaged by the fire holds apartment units, a holistic health practitioner and a hair salon.

An Irwin business and apartment building was damaged in a fire around 2:25 a.m. Saturday.

Video courtesy of Irwin resident Don Sowash, who watched the fire rip through the roof about 13 hours ago.

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No injuries were reported, according to a Westmoreland 911 dispatcher. Irwin fire and police departments could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday afternoon.

Crews were dispatched to address the flames around 2:25 a.m., according to a social media post by the fire department.

It took crews several hours to suppress the fire, the post said.

Sowash saw about seven or eight fire trucks on scene — including crews from Irwin, Greensburg, Circleville and Sutersville.