The Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to a report of a house fire before 1 a.m. Sunday.
Upon arrival, crews found heavy fire showing in the rear of the home at 931 Connecticut Avenue. As fire companies extinguished the deck fire, other companies entered the residence for an interior attack and to search for victims. No one was home at the time, and the fire was contained within 20 minutes.
The building is a single-story residential duplex. The residents of the other half of the home, located at 929 Connecticut Avenue, sustained about $2,000 of damage. They had already evacuated the structure prior to the fire department’s arrival. The side where the fire initiated sustained an estimated $150,000 of structural damage plus about $30,000 loss of contents.
County records list Sean Luciano Schiazza as the owner of 931 Connecticut Avenue, and Ron and Tatianna Schwerdt of New Braunfels, Texas as the owners of 929 Connecticut Avenue.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
