3 Hospitalized After Westmoreland Co. Fire
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Three people are in the hospital following an overnight fire in Westmoreland County.
The fire started around 2 a.m. inside of a duplex in the 400-block of High Street in Mount Pleasant.
Several neighbors heard glass shattering from the bedroom windows and immediately ran over to the front door.
"I kicked it in, just went over and kicked it in because there was smoke," said Seth Reed, a neighbor.
"Two o'clock we heard the window break and we could hear the woman screaming, couldn't see any flames coming out of the house," Dennis Henderson, another neighbor, said. "We got out here; we could see smoke billowing out of the windows and the top of the roof."
A neighbor took pictures showing smoke coming from the house. It's believed the cause was electrical with heavy flames and thick smoke building up inside.
"They were trapped in the upstairs," said Reed. "They had to come through the flames to come down the steps."
Reed and Henderson helped the family escape through the front and back doors of the residence before firefighters arrived.
"There were two kids in there; I wasn't going to let two kids get hurt," Reed added. "Soon as I opened the door, I saw the kids at the bottom of the steps. I wasn't going to let that happen."
Five people were inside when the fire started - three adults and two children. At least two adults and one of the children were treated for burns and smoke inhalation.
"They just told us that two of them are on respirators, and I think one of the daughters is in Children's with burns up and down her side," Henderson said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but neighbors think the outcome could have been much worse had they not been there to help.
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