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Neighbor Helps Woman, 2 Kids Escape Beechview Fire

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A woman and her two kids, including a newborn, escaped intense flames and smoke at a home in Beechview Thursday morning.

The fire broke out around 8:45 a.m. and it shut down a stretch of Capital Avenue.

Neighbors said they're just thankful everyone, including a 6-week-old baby, made it out.

"I saw my neighbor's house engulfed in flames, in the rear part of the house, the flames shooting out of the windows, so I called 911," a neighbor said.

That neighbor, who did not want to be identified, says after she called 911 she ran over to the house.

She looked through the back door and saw her friend.

"She was sitting on the stairwell, but she was just sitting there. The house was engulfed, I could see the smoke throughout and she wouldn't open the door," she said.

So, she smashed a small window and unlocked the door. She cut her hand, but was able to pull her friend out of harm's way.

"I'm just guessing she was completely disoriented from the smoke, it was thick. I ran in the house," she said.

The woman was given oxygen and was placed on a stretcher.

The women's daughter and her 6-week-old baby had already made it out of the house. Paramedics escorted the two to an ambulance.

We're told they were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

As for the fire, it didn't take crews long to get the flames under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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