Firefighters battled large flames at a two-story home in West Mifflin, Allegheny County, on Wednesday.
Sky 4 flies over the fire scene: Watch the video above
Sky 4, Pittsburgh’s only news chopper, showed video of heavy smoke and flames at the house on Shara Drive, not far from Lebanon Road.
Skyview Volunteer Fire Company Chief Jeffrey Youkers said no one was home at the time of the fire. One firefighter was taken on a gurney by paramedics and was conscious and alert. Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 is working to get an update on that firefighter’s condition.
Neighbor Lonnie Fisher shared her sorrow over the fire.
“I’m just devastated for my neighbors to watch, to watch my neighbors see their house go up in flames and lose everything, memories, everything. It’s devastating. My heart is broken for them,” Fisher said.
Chief Youkers said crews arrived within six minutes of dispatch and encountered heavy fire at the rear and front of the structure.
“We had heavy fire out of the rear of the structure, along with the front of the structure. We were here within just a few minutes of dispatch,” Youkers said.
Fisher, however, claimed the response time was longer.
“I was a GetGo. My daughter called me and said that a house is on fire. I came up the hill. I saw thick black smoke. I knew it was a decent-sized fire. Fire was coming out the bottom window at that time. Um, the response time. I understand their volunteers. The response time wasn’t good for the firemen. It was at least 10 to 15 minutes after I got home. By that time, whole half of the house was on fire, and it’s absolutely devastating,” Fisher said.
She added, “I do think that West Mifflin should possibly look into a paid fire department because of the response time.”
Youkers described a large response involving at least eight departments. He said firefighters had to pull out at one point and go on the defensive, using chainsaws to access the basement.
“The rear of the structure actually did have some collapse. So we were trying to make access in the basement area in the back,” Youkers said. “We had to make access into the roof to get some void spaces.”
Another challenge crews faced was a lack of water pressure from some hydrants, but Youkers said while water was already on the fire from functioning hydrants, they were troubleshooting with the low-pressure hydrants.
“We did have a little bit of hydrant issues on the way up. We had to hit multiple other hydrants,” Youkers said. “So we hit one and the water pressure that came up, it wouldn’t… it was barely filling the hose, so we had to pull an audible and, you know, hit another hydrant,” he said.
The Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
This is a developing story. Stay with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for updates.
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