Suspicious fire at Beaver Falls home leads to discovery of numerous dead cats, chief says

A suspicious fire at a home in Beaver Falls led to the discovery of numerous dead cats in the basement, authorities said on Thursday. 

The chief of the Beaver Falls Fire Department said up to 10 dead cats were found in the basement. He believes they were dead before the blaze on Thursday. 

Describing the fire as suspicious, Beaver Falls Fire Chief Mark Stowe said hazardous materials teams were called to the home after firefighters saw a chemical on the wall inside the basement. While hazmat crews didn't determine what the substance was, saying it tested negative for what they looked for, Stowe believes the substance could be connected to what started the fire, which he believes happened outside the home. 

When firefighters arrived at the scene on Fourth Avenue, they saw several cats jumping out of the home's windows.

"We also had very deplorable conditions inside," Stowe said. 

It appeared to be a feral cat colony. He said it all left an odor. 

"The renters were just evicted last week," Stowe said. "The owner went through the eviction process, so we don't know where they are, who they are at this point, but it's under investigation."

Tracy, a neighbor who asked KDKA not to use her last name, described it all as "horrible." Tracy said she had no idea the evicted renters left cats behind until she spotted a few in the window weeks ago. 

She says she tried alerting law enforcement and the Beaver County Humane Society to the cats weeks ago, but they didn't do anything

"We wanted to save the animals," Tracy said. 

But she realized there was nothing more she could do.

"It's horrible that animals are treated like that by a person, cruelty to animals and letting them starve and die," Tracy said. 

The home is now considered to be uninhabitable. The humane society will be on hand on Friday to rescue the remaining cats, Stowe said.