A Pittsburgh man was arrested in connection with several fires across Allegheny County, including a fire early Thursday morning that badly damaged the office and rectory building of Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish in Monroeville and a former Wilkins restaurant.
Wilkins police charged David Harknett, 41, with aggravated arson, criminal mischief, receiving stolen property and recklessly endangering another person, among other charges, connected to a string of incidents that began Tuesday.
The fire at the church rectory, along with five other fires, was determined by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal to be intentionally set. The rectory is located at 245 Azalea Drive on the St. Bernadette Catholic Church campus.
Allegheny County Police are leading the ongoing investigation, according to Monoroeville Police Chief Doug Cole.
According to a statement from the Allegheny County Police Department, the Wilkins Township Volunteer Fire Department responded to a commercial structure fire at 3498 William Penn Highway at 3:21 a.m. Thursday. An employee at a nearby business reported to the Wilkins Township Police Department that they saw a man wearing blue jeans and a black shirt hiding behind an electric transformer in the parking lot. Officers found Harknett around 4:45 a.m. and took him into custody.
Allegheny County Police Department detectives and the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office began an investigation.
The detectives determined Harknett was responsible for several other incidents, including two vehicle fires Wednesday in Monroeville on Garden City Drive and Lilac Drive. They also said he was responsible for a vehicle fire and theft on Caryl Drive in Pleasant Hills, a vehicle fire and theft on Clairton Boulevard in Brentwood, and a theft from multiple vehicles at the Jefferson Hills Police Department, all on Tuesday.
“During our conversation with Harknett, he stated that he enjoys watching the fires he sets, and that’s why he was caught watching the fire at the vacant Hooters building,” police wrote in charging documents. Harknett told police fire always has excited him, according to court records.
He also is charged with taking car keys and fuel credit cards from several vehicles at the Jefferson Hills Police Department on Tuesday.
He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and was awaiting a preliminary arraignment.
Fire at church rectory
The priests who lived in the rectory awoke to the smell of smoke and called 911 around 12:30 a.m., according to a Facebook post from the church.
One priest, identified by the church in the Facebook post as the Rev. Jeremy Mohler, was taken to nearby Forbes Hospital for evaluation after breathing in smoke. He has since been released, according to Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh spokeswoman Jennifer Antkowiak. The other priest living at the rectory was the Rev. Faustine Furaha, visiting from Tanzania.
The rectory and office building were extensively damaged, with a hole and collapse in the roof on one side. The fire did not appear to have made it to any other buildings, including the St. Bernadette church building.
The fire was knocked down within 30 minutes, and first responders were on the scene until just before 4:30 a.m., Cole said.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal, Antkowiak said.
Mass still will be held at St. Bernadette on Friday morning as well as this weekend, the church’s post said. Vacation Bible School will proceed as planned next week.
“It’ll take a lot more than a fire to stop this parish from living its mission,” the post said.
Bishop David Zubik is out of town but was informed of the fire, according to Antkowiak.
“He expressed his gratitude to the first responders and to God that nobody was seriously hurt,” Antkowiak said.
Laraine Hlatky, who lives across the street from the church, was awakened by the lights outside as fire departments responded.
“I looked out my window, and I had no idea what was going on,” she said. “The street was lit up like a Christmas tree.”
Brothers Jeff and Davy Bennett live down the street and saw the smoke through their windows.
Flames were coming up and out of the office and rectory building, and there was a hole in the roof when they walked outside to look, they said.
Julia Maruca is a TribLive reporter covering health and the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She joined the Trib in 2022 after working at the Butler Eagle covering southwestern Butler County. She can be reached at jmaruca@triblive.com.
