Mt. Washington Home Catches Fire Twice

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A Mt. Washington house caught fire Sunday afternoon, not once but twice, and now nearly everything inside the family's home is lost.

The first fire call came in after neighbors reported seeing a TV dish on top of the home catch fire.

The homeowners salvaged clothes, but little else, and while they say the fire was just an accident, they are wondering if anything could have been done differently to save their family home.

Sunday night, the Scarpazzi family and friends removed what little was left from their home.

Five hours earlier, everything there was fine.

Pittsburgh firefighters, police and EMS all responded to Kambach Street shortly after 2 p.m. after reports of a satellite dish on top of the home in the 300-block catching fire.

"The wire was on the dish causing it to spark, and they left," homeowner Valerie Scarpazzi said.

Neighbors out enjoying the springlike day called 911 and ran over.

"Our neighbors were amazing," Scarpazzi said. "He came and banged on our door and said fire and we got our kids out, got the dog out."

"It was real windy, and I heard like a weird buzzing noise. I turned around and their dish on their house was on fire," eyewitness and neighbor Michael Kopps said.

Scarpazzi, her husband and two teen girls all went back inside after they say the fire was put out, but less then a half hour later, the Broadcastify and 911 report indicate a second call to firefighters around 2:25 p.m. when the house caught fire again.

"So I opened the bathroom window and the wind, when I came in, caused that smoke from the attic to push out. The attic was on fire the whole time," Scarpazzi told KDKA News.

The City public information officer says firefighters were already on scene at the time of the second fire.

Alicia George, Assistant Public Information Officer for the City of Pittsburgh, praised first responders quick action.

"As you can see, the firefighters did a great job with keeping the flames from spreading to any adjacent structures," she said.

Seventeen years of family memories were left in charred ruins.

"It's crazy to me that they came for a fire, put it out, left, and we walked in and we had all our stuff still and now we don't," Scarpazzi said.

The Scarpazzis say they are grateful to first responders that their family wasn't hurt, but they just want to understand what happened.

"They run in here and do things that people wouldn't. I really don't want to blame anyone. I just wonder if they did leave, would it be this bad?" Scarpazzi told KDKA News.

One firefighter suffered a slight hand injury, and the fire is under investigation. There's still no word on whether Sunday's wind was a factor.

The Scarpazzi's arent sure whether their home is salvageable. They have family on Mt. Washington and will be helped by them and The Red Cross.