Vehicle Plows Into Gas Line, Sparking Major Fire In East Deer Twp.
EAST DEER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Expectant parents and four children were inside a home that went up in flames when a vehicle took out a gas line in East Deer Township.
It all started just before noon along Freeport Road on Friday.
According to East Deer Police, a pickup truck was headed north when one of its tires blew out. It hit two other vehicles, then plowed into a gas line, which blew up and started the fast-moving fire.
Officials managed to shut off that gas line, but the home where the fire started was destroyed and the homes on either side are heavily damaged. Those two homes were unoccupied.
"The house behind me was a big ball of fire and the pickup truck was stuck in it," neighbor Joe Moxie said.
A pregnant woman, a man and four children, all under the age of 10, were inside the home where the fire started.
Firefighters say it's a miracle no one was hurt.
WATCH: Crews Battle Fire --
A neighbor helped the family to escape by punching in windows. Two of the family's cats died in the fire.
"I told him to start pounding on this door and I ran around back to the house that was on fire and they were trying to get out the back door and they busted a window and she just started shoving her kids through and I just grabbed them," neighbor Anna Bair said.
That woman was Aaron Ciccanti's pregnant fiance.
"Smoke was too thick, flames were already in the house. I couldn't get into them. I couldn't even breathe. I was choking. I couldn't find by kets," Ciccanti said.
He says their home went up in flames in less than 60 seconds.
A burned-out pickup truck was seen among what's left of the homes.
No injuries were reported.
The Red Cross is helping the family with their needs.
"What happened was an absolute tragedy, but also an act of God that we made it out alive," Ciccaniti said.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
