Demolition Begins On Apartment Building Destroyed By Fire In Swissvale
SWISSVALE (KDKA) -- Demolition work has begun on a three-story apartment building destroyed by fire in Swissvale.
At least one firefighter was hurt and a few people were left unaccounted for after a raging fire ripped through an apartment building on Woodstock Avenue in Swissvale Tuesday night.
It's hard to believe that over a dozen families lived in the 11-unit building just yesterday. Their homes were reduced to a pile of rubble after a fire left the apartment building so unstable, it had to be torn down immediately.
It was swift and loud as a demolition crew, within two hours, tore down the building.
"It's sad because all those families were in there and they lost everything. They don't have anything now," Reginald Hudson said. "People were out here crying. It was bad. It was real bad."
"Everything is in there. I didn't get to get anything out. I was lucky I left my coat in the car this morning when I got off work. Other than that, I don't have nothing. Some lady gave him a coat and a hat. We don't have anything," Morgan Lane said.
Lane's family is one of those left homeless from the fire. She and her two sons are relying on the Red Cross for the next few days until they can find somewhere permanent to stay.
The Red Cross said they are assisting a total of 25 adults and 24 children.
Mark Haak has owned the building for 22 years. He's never had a problem until now.
"It had to be about 80 firefighters from eight to 10 fire departments. But I want to say they did a heck-of-a-job containing the fire, making sure everyone got out," said Haak. "[I'm] real happy that no one got hurt."
The cause of the four-alarm fire is still unknown and under investigation, but neighbors reported seeing sparks before the flames.
"We saw all these white sparks, these balls come out to the street and next thing you know, my brother walked down and said the apartment was on fire," Hudson said.
The fire left the building weak with a real possibility of collapse. Around 2 a.m. crews got to work to safely bring the building down.
"Everything went really smooth. We were worried about the power lines, the wind, the houses really close. Three feet of distance between them," Matt Massarelli, of Massarelli Excavation & Demolition, said.
A few power lines were left dangling along Woodstock Avenue and Melrose Street.
The demolition crew said it's going to take a lot of work and roughly a week to clear all of the debris.
As a precaution on Tuesday night, Duquesne Light shut off power to about 300 customers, but everyone has since been restored.
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