Intense Fire Damages Homes, Sends 1 To Hospital In North Braddock
NORTH BRADDOCK (KDKA) – One person was taken to the hospital, multiple homes were damaged and investigators are now working to determine the cause of an intense fire that erupted Tuesday morning in North Braddock.
According to emergency dispatchers, the fire started at a home in the 300 block of Oakland Avenue.
A neighbor and a police officer rescued one man from his burning home; and right next door, a family with their 2-month-old baby made it out of their home safely.
It was a terrifying sight for the community as fire spread from the middle home to the one on the corner. There was concern it would spread on the other side as well where Dorian Jones, his infant daughter, fiancé and grandmother live.
His infant slept through the entire ordeal, blissfully unaware of the dangerous situation.
"We smelled the smoke coming through the fan and the front door," said Jones. "We grabbed all the important stuff, anything we could, ran out. Hopefully, the house don't catch on fire or anything like that."
They were all okay. Their home, thanks to firefighters, was pretty much untouched by the fire.
The man who lives in the home where the fire started was rescued by a neighbor & police officer. He is at UPMC Mercy. pic.twitter.com/wCqQlsEAB1
— Heather Abraham (@KDKAHeather) August 23, 2016
However, their next door neighbor, Ron, did not fare as well.
"I heard him in there coughing. So, I'm like, 'Ron, get out, get out, your house is on fire,'" said Bridgette Cobbs, a neighbor.
Cobbs called 911 and then ran to help.
"He got to the door and then he dropped. So I opened up the door and he was right at the door," she said. "So I said, 'Come on, Ron, crawl out.' He crawled out. And that's when the police came up."
"I immediately went over to him and [dragged] him off the porch. He was a little reluctant. He wanted to go back inside. I don't even think he realized his house was on fire," said North Braddock Police Officer Isaac Daniele.
It's unclear why he wanted to go back inside. His wife and son were not home at the time.
It's believed the fire started in their home.
Ron was taken to UPMC Mercy Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The house on the corner, police say is vacant.
Allegheny County Fire Marshals arrived on scene once the fire was under control. After their initial walk-throughs, they told KDKA that they do not believe the fire was gas-related, but the cause is still undetermined.
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