'It's Devastating': 3 Homes Destroyed After Fire Rips Through Lawrenceville
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Three homes have been destroyed after a fire swept through Lawrenceville.
Pittsburgh Firefighters said the 3-alarm fire tore through homes on Wickliff Street and McCandless Avenue in the Lawrenceville neighborhood on Tuesday.
Two other homes were damaged, Pittsburgh Public Safety said. Firefighters say it all started as a small trash fire that quickly grew out of control.
The fire is now contained.
"The center home is destroyed," Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones told KDKA's Jennifer Borrasso. "The other two are also destroyed. And there are two separate homes that are damaged by heat and smoke, but they are salvageable."
WATCH: Viewer Video Shows The Fire In Lawrenceville
The whipping winds also made it harder to contain the blaze.
"The winds, the gusts keep coming, the breezes keep coming up," Jones said. "Like I said, it moved embers around, setting a couple of fires that we quickly contained."
"A wind-driven fire is very dangerous," Jones added.
A viewer sent a photo of large flames and black smoke billowing from the scene.
Pittsburgh Public Safety says McCandless Avenue was closed between Duncan Street and Stanton Avenue.
There were no injuries. It is unclear how many people were impacted.
The American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania Region is helping out those impacted by the fire.
Firefighters will be on scene all night monitoring the situation.
They may have to do an emergency demolition due to the unstable structures.
"It's devastating. We already know so many people are out of work with this crisis. I can't imagine what the families are going through right now," said witness Ayanna Walker.
There was so much smoke from the fire that it showed up on the weather radar.
The red dot is Wickliff Street and the green blob is the fire's smoke.
At one point, the smoke stretched about seven miles from Lawrenceville.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
