Woman In Critical Condition After Being Rescued From West View Fire
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
WEST VIEW, Pa. (KDKA) - A woman is in critical condition after being rescued from a massive fire at a West View apartment building on Wednesday morning.
NewsChopper 2 flew over the scene on Oakwood Avenue.
The blaze was first reported around 10:30 a.m. and multiple departments responded to the scene – including Ross Township, Reserve Township, Millvale and West View crews.
The four-building unit houses seven people, who now are without a home.
The woman who was rescued was rushed to UPMC Mercy Hospital in critical condition, authorities said. Her name has not been released.
Police say everyone else made it out safely. A firefighter was also treated at the scene and is expected to be fine.
It was a neighbor who first spotted the flames and called for help. She describes a menacing fire.
"So, basically, I was upstairs on a Zoom before my school and my window was open upstairs, and so I smelled some smoke and I looked out the window, I didn't think anything of it, and it was so high, it was massive," neighbor Gianna Reed said.
"It was an immediate plume of black smoke and these bright red and orange flames started coming out of the bottom. I ran downstairs and called 911 and screamed for my mom, and then my mom came and started screaming for our neighbors."
"I just heard my daughter screaming, 'the building is on fire. The building is on fire,'" Gianna's mother Toni Reed said.
Gianna called 911 while Toni yelled for the people inside to get out.
"We just started screaming to get out. Me and multiple people, neighbors. The whole street was out screaming for them to get out," Toni Reed said.
The Red Cross has been called in to assist the people left without a home.
"It appears it's destroyed. There's nobody going to be living here anytime soon," West View Police Lt. Matthew Holland said.
Crews remained at the building well into the afternoon. They were spotted working on the second floor and dousing hotspots.
"We need to all be grateful for what we have. Because in the blink of an eye, it can all be gone," Gianna said.
Toni said many of the neighbors are like family to each other, and some are planning meals to help out those who lost their homes.
"It could have been a lot worse. All that can be replaced, people can't," she said. "We'll come together and get them through this."
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The fire marshal was on the scene to investigate.
Stay with KDKA for much more from Chris Hoffman on this developing story.
