10 People Evacuated Due To 2-Alarm Fire In Castle Shannon
CASTLE SHANNON (KDKA)- Ten people were forced to evacuate an apartment building in Castle Shannon due to a fire.
According to officials at the scene, the fire started around 3 a.m. in 3900-block of Canal Street.
Brittany Pavlik came home from work and immediately smelled gas.
"I walked up to the door and just smelled gas," said Pavlik. "I then opened the door and there was smoke everywhere, so I immediately called 911."
When firefighters first arrived, they spotted the fire on a stove in one of the units. They tried using fire extinguishers to put out the fire, but noticed that the smoke and fire had spread to the walls.
The fire was working its way up the walls to a shared roof. At that point, a second alarm was put out and more fire crews were called to the scene.
Firefighters evacuated the other seven apartments in the building. Those 10 people were kept in a command vehicle to keep warm.
Crews were able to stop the fire from spreading to the roof and said this could have been a lot worse.
"Her arriving back from work when she did was big," said Castle Shannon Fire Chief Bill Reffner. "Probably another hour and we would have had a pretty good fire going on here."
Pavlik was also happy she got home when she did.
"I'm thankful I wasn't home earlier. I probably would have been sleeping. I'm lucky to be out here talking to you guys, honestly," she said.
Chief Reffner says the damage looks worse than it is. He expects the damage to be fixed in the next few days.
Pavlik will be staying with family until her apartment is fixed.
The other tenants who were evacuated were allowed back inside to their apartments.
The Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause to see if it was electrical or a problem with the stove.
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