Residents charged in connection with shower fire at Pittsburgh treatment facility

PITTSBURGH — Two residents have been charged in connection with a fire in a shower at a Pittsburgh addiction treatment facility.

Jarrett Short, 29, and Sergio Lombardo, 31, are accused of starting a fire in a bathroom Monday at the Renewal Center, located in the Bluff neighborhood.

According to court records, emergency crews got reports of burnt debris inside a shower stall on the facility’s fourth floor that had been extinguished by sprinklers.

Investigators say they used video footage to identify Short and Lombardo as the last two people who were in the bathroom before the alarm went off.

Found inside the stall were the remains of a cardboard box, a broken ceramic tile and two cored apples, including one with a wick.

Investigators say this is a common tactic by residents: Setting a small fire or breaking the sprinkler system in order to escape or cause disruption. Several arrests have reportedly been made at the Renewal Center for these same tactics.

Short and Lombardo were arrested and are being held in the Allegheny County Jail. They are facing charges of arson endangering property, conspiracy to commit arson, criminal mischief and sending a false alarm to a public safety agency.

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