'They Protected Us': Lawrenceville Neighbors Credit Firefighters With Keeping People Safe During Massive Fire
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh firefighters remained on the scene of a massive fire in Lawrenceville overnight and well into Wednesday afternoon.
WATCH: KDKA's Meghan Schiller Reports Live From Lawrenceville.
They were hosing down hot spots from the three-alarm fire that destroyed three homes on Wickliff Street and McCandless Avenue Tuesday evening. Now, crews are demolishing them.
"As soon as my mom stepped out of that house, it blew," said Bryn Young, who lived at the house for 13 years.
Her mother, stepfather and two younger sisters survived.
For the last 15 years, Princess Hughes has lived along McCandless Avenue in Upper Lawrenceville. She tells KDKA, she's seen house fires before, but nothing like what happened just steps away from her own home.
"We honestly thought it was going to catch our houses on fire. We was petrified, we were like, 'Please, please,' I didn't know what to do," said Hughes.
It was just after 7 p.m. Tuesday when firefighters say trash burning inside a garbage can on Wickliff Street got out of control and spread.
More than 12 hours later and @PghFireFighters are still hosing down homes destroyed by fire in Lawrenceville. They're expected to be demolished. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/RumVHEs99h
— Lindsay Ward (@LindsayWardTV) April 22, 2020
Families were inside all three homes when the fire spread. Amazingly, all of them made it out alive.
"At the end of the day, we are blessed no one died. That fire was deadly. Someone should've died in that fire, but no one did because God had us protected," said Hughes.
The fast-moving flames also damaged two neighboring homes. Firefighters say the windy conditions made it that much harder to contain.
And although it was a frightening experience, crews were committed to keeping people safe.
"They protected us, our livelihood. They kept us right; they kept everybody away; they stayed here all night long," said Hughes.
Now it is time for the community to come together.
"We're already in the midst of a crisis," said Dave Breingan, the executive director of Lawrenceville United. "To hear that some families are going to also now be experiencing another crisis on top of the one we're on, was just really tragic."
"We're available to help these families with temporary housing, food donations," he added. "We were getting calls and messages today from folks who want to donate clothes and pet supplies."
And while donations pour in, the families impacted hope the arson dogs can sniff out the cause.
"I've seen garbage fires, and you've got to have something very flammable in that garbage for it to blow up three houses and two cars," Young said.
The Red Cross is helping the families impacted. Although those inside made it out safely, a few pets did die in the fire.
