Cause of Last Night's George Street Fire Still Under Investigation

The cause of the is still under investigation by local, county and state agencies, but authorities don't currently suspect the work of an arsonist.

According to Norristown Fire Chief Thomas O'Donnell, the cause of the fire is currently undetermined, but Fire Marshall Charles Sweeney has reached out to fire investigators from the Montgomery County Detectives Bureau and the State Police to aid in the investigation. Investigators met this morning at 9 a.m. to go over the scene.

"Anytime we have a fire where we don't what the cause is, we reach out to our counterparts and bring in multiple investigators," said O'Donnell. "It's very routine and standard."

Authorities so far believe the fire began on the first floor in the area around a sofa.

"Right now the investigators are going to label the fire 'Undetermined,' not an arson," said O'Donnell. " We have no witnesses; nobody was there; we have no accelerant or anything like that inside the building that would lead us to believe it was an intentionally set fire."

O'Donnell reports that there was only one minor injury as a result of last night's fire. After hours of fighting the blaze in freezing weather and soaking wet from the hoses, one firefighter became lightheaded and was taken to Montgomery Hospital to be treated for an elevated blood pressure. He was released the same night.

According to a police report, the owner of the property had recently listed the home for sale and it had been unoccupied for at least 8 months.