FFs Burned, Aerial Hits Powerline at Pa. Fire
Source Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A fire that moved through row houses in Rankin was made more difficult to fight after a ladder truck came in contact with a powerline.
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A fire that moved through row houses in Rankin was made more difficult to fight after a ladder truck came in contact with a powerline.
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Nov. 12--Careless smoking appeared to be the cause of a rowhouse fire in Rankin in which two firefighters suffered burns and 11 people were left homeless.
The fire spread from a cluttered apartment to eight other units in a row of houses.
Swissvale firefighters, who were first to arrive at the scene at the corner of Mound Street and Fourth Avenue, cut through the common roof and fought the blaze before it spread. Three of the apartments were saved, said Allegheny County Fire Marshal Donald Brucker.
The row houses are situated adjacent to the former Rankin Elementary School.
The fire was reported around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when a resident drove a half-block to the borough's municipal building, which houses the police and fire departments, and banged on the doors.
The man reported that he had set down his lighted tobacco pipe while watching television, and the embers ignited some of the voluminous debris in the apartment.
The lease holder of the unit, a man in his 60s, was not home at the time.
Two Swissvale firefighters suffered first- and second-degree burns when, having entered the burning apartment, escaped through a plate glass window as flames blew from the rear of the apartment to the front where they had been standing, Chief Brucker said.
Shortly after, a fireman's ladder touched wires from a utility pole, leading to two electrical explosions at the scene, Rankin police Chief Ryan Wooten said.
Some electricity service was disrupted for about an hour after the explosions. However, some residents of Rankin still were without land line telephone service because a telephone connection box was damaged on a nearby utility pole, the fire marshal said.
Three of the nine units in the row still may be habitable, he said.
The Red Cross is providing food, clothing and temporary housing for residents displaced by the fire.
One of the evacuees is an associate pastor at nearby Emanuel Baptist Church, whose pastor also has offered assistance to those with losses from the fire.
Anyone wishing to assist is asked to contact the church at 412-271-2428.
Jim McKinnon: [email protected] or 412-263-1939.
