Watch CBS News

Neighbor Credited With Helping To Alert Young Man To Fire

MOON TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – A family in Moon Township lost everything when their home was consumed by fire Friday, but they are crediting a neighbor with saving the life of one of their children.

The fire started around 2:30 p.m. at a home on Westwind Drive.

The couple who lives there was not at home, but their eldest son was there. They have two other children, another son and daughter.

A neighbor was the first to spot the flames and was able to get the boy, a Robert Morris University student, out of the home.

"So he went to the side of the house, he saw the back burning, so he thought, 'Is anybody in there?'" said Rose Creely, the boy's grandmother. "So he hammered and hammered on the door and my grandson, he had just gotten out of the shower, he came running down and this gentleman said, 'Your house is on fire.' It's just a shock. Thank God, and I thank him."

The fire started at the back of the home.

"We ran back around the house, by that time the fire was really ablaze," said Ron Alvarado, the family's neighbor. "We went back around the front of the house, helped him open the garage door, by that time the fire was actually in and up, so the fire traveled faster than I could have ever expected it to."

There's no word yet on the cause. Five fire companies responded to the scene.

School buses had to be rerouted because they couldn't access the Crosswinds and Autumn Woods plans. The middle and high school students who would normally get off at those stops were dropped off at Blue Ridge Drive in Crosswinds.

Neighbors plan on helping the family out.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.