Andrew Bischof, the former Arnold volunteer firefighter charged with arson in connection with four fires in Arnold and New Kensington earlier this month, waived his preliminary hearing Thursday morning before District Judge Frank J. Pallone Jr. Police accuse Bischof, 21, of setting four houses on fire the weekend of Sept.
An Arnold volunteer firefighter lives a door down from one of four houses he is accused of setting on fire this past weekend, and another belongs to a family member, according to state police. Andrew Joseph Bischof, 21, of Arnold even returned as a firefighter to put out two of
Firefighters responded this weekend to three separate house fires along Leishman Avenue in Arnold and New Kensington within 24 hours. Sunday evening, a third house fire on the street brought crews to the 1500 block, according to Westmoreland 911 dispatchers. The fire was reported around 9:45 p.m. Sunday. Initial reports
Investigators are trying to determine whether four fires that erupted over the weekend — including one that sent a firefighter to the hospital with serious injuries — were deliberately set and connected to one another. Three of the four fires were on Leishman Avenue and one was on Fourth Avenue.
A fire ripped through an abandoned two-story building in Arnold on Saturday morning with such power that neighbors described windows being blown out by the flames. “It was so hot that the windows broke open,” said Ed Taylor, 63, who lives across the street from the structure on Fourth Avenue.