Two children among 3 killed in three-alarm house fire in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA: Two children and one young adult were reportedly killed in a three-alarm house fire in a Pittsburgh residential area overnight. As per officials, the Pittsburg Bureau of Fire responded to the 3400 block of McClure Avenue just before 2 am after the department received several calls for a house fire on early Saturday, December 17, 2022. Pittsburgh Public Safety tweeted that what began as a two-alarm blaze with "heavy fire throughout", soon became a three-alarm fire.
Authorities shared there were four children in the home, as per the emergency call recorded by Broadcastify. The officials gave an update almost an hour later, informing that a female was rushed to the hospital in "stable but serious condition." A firefighter with an arm laceration was also taken to the nearby hospital. Pittsburgh Public Safety initially said that the three other occupants of the home were still to be accounted for, according to NBC News.
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UPDATE 3: The fire has been declared under control. The search for the three occupants who are unaccounted for continues. https://t.co/Jz9hr4GQHs pic.twitter.com/PrzO84xbyc
— Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) December 17, 2022
The department declared the fire to be under control around 5.30 am and updated that the three occupants, including two children, were found dead inside the home over an hour later. According to officials, a woman and eight children were safely evacuated from the burning house. They are now trying to establish the cause of the fire.
The adult victim has reportedly been identified as Dijion Hutchinson, 19. Meanwhile, the American Red Cross is at the scene assisting the family of the victims. Officials are yet to establish whether the victims are related, reports Channel 11.
In another unrelated fire incident, North Hudson had to battle massive fires in November that left over a dozen firefighters injured and dozens of people displaced. North Hudson Fire Chief David Donnarumma said that both fires were brought under control on Friday morning, as previously reported by MEAWW.
UPDATE 2: A female has been transported to the hospital in stable but serious condition. Three occupants of the home are still unaccounted for at this time.
— Pittsburgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) December 17, 2022
A firefighter has been transported to the hospital with an arm laceration. https://t.co/ZVrUVw0JQn
“The building (in West New York) has been compromised, there were floor collapses as well as roof collapses,” Donnaruma said on Friday. “With this building, there were a lot of occupants that were fleeing. We assisted with evacuations, we did primary searches, we assisted people off the fire escape and we were able to rescue all these people due to regionalization. Our department regionalized about 23 years ago and it just brings a lot more resources to the initial alarm.”
This is a developing story, MEAWW will keep you updated.