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Neighbors Act Quickly As Mt. Oliver Home Consumed By Fire

MT. OLIVER (KDKA) – A Mt. Oliver family will have to rebuild, but say they're thankful for neighbors and firefighters.

Neighbors reacted quickly when a fire broke out early Saturday at a house in the 300-block of Anthony Street in Mt. Oliver.

"We heard the neighbor across the street yelling, 'call 911!'" said neighbor Rich Christian. "We were trying to kick the door in, because we didn't know if anybody was in there or not."

Fortunately Lydia Debold, her boyfriend and four children were not at home when the fire started. Debold got a call at work that her house was burning.

"By the time I got there, the flames were coming out of my bedroom window like a flame thrower in the living room," she said.

Neighbors took pictures as the fire gutted the house quickly, sending flames all the way to the roof. Neighbors think it's a blessing that the children were away.

"Thank God, because if they would have been trapped upstairs on the third floor, it went in a blaze real quick," said Christian.

Investigators believe the fire started in the living room, but the cause remains unknown. The family is getting help from the American Red Cross, but they lost everything and have to start over.

"I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me, because we're all living and breathing," Debold said.

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