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Flames Consume Vandergrift Apartment Building

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Firefighters battled a blaze at a Westmoreland County apartment building Thursday.

It started at an apartment building on Washington Avenue in Vandergrift.

The first of the flames were sparked around noon, with one resident noticing something unusual about the door to her apartment.

"We went down to Penny Lane, sent my son back to the apartment," said Allison Faulx, who lost all of her belongings and a pet. "He came back and said the door was hot."

A hot door would soon spread into a fire that would consume three buildings, four apartments -- three of which were occupied -- and a sub shop.

The battle against the flames was to be a long engagement and one of attrition. Firefighters from around the Vandergrift area would be pulled from the building for their own safety. Those who lived and worked there were left with nothing and could only watch.

"We have people giving us things, food," said Sylvia Klingensmith, whose daughter lost her apartment. "What are we gonna do from here?"

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