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'Never Encountered Anything Like This': Fire-Eating Class Causes False Alarm At Vacant Church

McKEES ROCKS (KDKA) -- Flames inside an old church in McKees Rocks were not what they seemed.

Neighbors thought the building was on fire late Tuesday night and called 911, but it was a false alarm. Firefighters say a group was inside learning to perform circus tricks using fire.

"We had no idea they were doing 'fire eating' classes. I have never heard of that around here," said Sabrina Garnett, a neighbor.

"We encounter a lot of things, but have never encountered anything like this," said McKees Rocks Police Chief Rick Deliman.

Concerned neighbors saw flames shooting inside the former church on Cutler Street and called 911. Other neighbors heard sirens and ran outside.

"I was scared. Me, my brother and my mom came out," said Garnett. "We didn't know if there was a fire or if somebody got hurt, you know, with everything going on."

Firefighters from several departments raced to the scene to find the building wasn't burning.

"We saw about 25 to 30 people just coming out," Garnett said. "My mom spoke to the fire chief and he said that they were doing 'fire eating' classes."

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Police are still gathering information about why the "fire eating" workshop was being held there in the first place and whether any laws were broken in the process.

"We're still investigating the situation to determine if any criminal charges are going to be filed, whether or not they had an occupancy permit," said Chief Deliman. "And, obviously, the building inspector is going to look into it and see if the building is safe and it meets the requirements."

In any case, unless you are one of these performers, it's certainly not something you hear about every day.

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