Five-Alarm Fire In Oakland Injures Two Firefighters
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Crews responded to a five-alarm fire on 2018 De Raud Street in Oakland.
The fire is now under control and all residents have been evacuated.
Please avoid 5th Avenue between the Birmingham Bridge inbound to Jumonville Street.@PghFireFighters are battling a 4- alarm fire at an apartment building. pic.twitter.com/8leUsgmAyF
— Pgh Public Safety (@PghPublicSafety) August 17, 2019
"I heard the neighbor in apartment two screaming, 'Everybody get out!' I said, 'what's wrong?' she said, 'there's a fire' so we started knocking on tenants doors and getting everybody out," said Mischelle Mcmillan, a resident that first smelled smoke.
Firefighters are now looking for hot spots to determine the cause of the fire.
"It escalated to five alarms, it's a very stubborn fire in a very large and old building," said Pittsburgh Fire Department Chief Darryl Jones. "We tried to make some aggressive interior attacks, then we had to go defensive. Now we're waiting, we're defensive again, hoping to rest this fire and go ahead and mop it up. We're going to be here for awhile."
Firefighters had to also deal with heat since it was 88 degrees today.
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital, one of them for smoke inhalation. Neither are facing life-threatening conditions.
The apartment houses 74 people in 48 apartments in the building. All have been accounted for.
Fifth Avenue is closed past the Birmingham Bridge and officials are asking drivers to avoid the area.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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