Boy, 4, starts fire

Boy, 4, starts fire

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Firefighters said a 4-year-old boy playing with a cigarette lighter set fire to a mattress in his home, causing extensive damage.

The blaze was confined to one room in the home of Keisha Robinson, of 105 1‚Ñ2 S. Walnut Ave., around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The damage, however, made the house uninhabitable, and the American Red Cross was called in to aid Robinson and her six children, one of whom started the blaze, a firefighter said.

The Robinsons occupied one side of a duplex. There was no damage to the other side of the structure, firefighters said.

Gas siphoned from cars

HERMITAGE, Pa. — Gasoline was siphoned from several cars over the weekend, city police reported. The thefts occurred in the Rettig Drive and Rockwell Avenue neighborhood. There are no suspects at this time, police said.

Demolition project

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The city plans to have seven houses razed as part of its 2008 demolition project and is looking for a contractor to do the work. Council likely will consider the bids and hire a contractor at one of its meetings in August.

The residential structures are at 733 Pearl St., 100-102 N. Walnut St., 1513 Pennsylvania Ave., 220 E. Clayton St., 919 Winslow Ave., 501 Bell Ave. and 722 Oak St. Officials said project specifications and instructions are available at R.A.R., the city’s engineering firm, 1135 Butler Ave.

Bids are being accepted until 4 p.m. July 24 at the city clerk’s office in the city building at 230 N. Jefferson St., New Castle, Pa. 16101-2220.

Intentionally set fire

YOUNGSTOWN — Firefighters detected the strong smell of gasoline Monday night inside 411 Division St., a vacant two-story house on the North Side. The intentionally set fire, called in just before 11 p.m., was confined to the second floor and attic, the fire department said. Damage was set at $7,000.

Stolen scrap metal

YOUNGSTOWN — Police said they arrested two men accused of trying to sell $40 worth of stolen scrap metal at Youngstown Iron and Metal, 100 Division St.

Area scrap yards had been notified Tuesday that a red Nissan pickup truck with two men in it had been seen taking scrap from the Dave Sugar Construction Co. in Austintown.

City police said the truck with the stolen metal showed up at Youngstown Iron and Metal around 1:20 p.m., and the two men inside tried to sell the scrap.

Police were called, as was an employee from the Austintown company, who was able to identify the truck, the two men and the scrap.

Police charged Michael J. Steveson, 25, of North Portland Avenue, and John J. Kotyuha, 38, of Edison Street, Struthers, on charges of receiving stolen property. Both were lodged in Mahoning County Jail to await arraignment today.

Steel company roof fire

YOUNGSTOWN — City firefighters were called to extinguish a roof blaze at V M Star on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Firefighters said workers at the steel company had been cutting away some old metal on the three-story roof and accidentally set the wooden understructure on fire around 2 p.m. Tuesday.

They thought they had extinguished the blaze, but it later rekindled, and firefighters were called shortly after 6 p.m.

A ladder truck was used to carry a crew to the roof to put out the blaze.

Firefighters said the fire only temporarily disrupted production at the plant.