Tenant Dies In Downtown Apartment Fire

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Medical Examiner's office has confirmed the identity of a man who died in a three-alarm high-rise fire in downtown Pittsburgh.

Richard Snyder, 72, was found unconscious in his ninth floor apartment at the Roosevelt Apartments building on Penn Avenue late Thursday afternoon.

Tenants helped each other evacuate the 13-story building after they heard the fire alarms and smelled smoke.

"I tried to help as many people down as possible," tenant Mitchell Banks told KDKA's Kym Gable. "A lot of elderly people are here. I saw some people in wheelchairs and stuff just waiting."

City Fire Chief Darryl Jones said paramedics performed CPR on Snyder, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"Overall speaking, the fire was relatively small. But few people actually die from contact with flames. Usually smoke, heat or toxic gasses that get to you," said Jones.

Police had the 600-block of Penn Avenue shut down for several hours. Tenants were allowed back into their units shortly after 6 p.m.

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