Over long holiday weekend, dozens of Pittsburgh-area families lose homes in fires

By: Lauren Linder/KDKA-TV

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Over the lengthy vacation weekend, dozens of households misplaced their houses, and even their family members, in a historic rise of fires throughout Pennsylvania. 

Officers responded and wish to be sure you’re ready for the worst.

Three houses within the Pittsburgh space went via tragedies as fires destroyed their houses and killed a few of the residents inside. Certainly one of two on Christmas Eve happened in Derry Township, the place an aged lady died, and Fayette County misplaced an 11-year-old boy in a fireplace on Tuesday.

“Christmas is for pleasure, not for one thing like this,” Bradenville Fireplace Chief Mark Piantine stated on Christmas Eve on the scene of the Derry Township hearth. “It will play on some folks’s minds for some time.”

In response to the American Crimson Cross, crews responded to greater than 60 home fires throughout 61 counties in Pennsylvania from Dec. 22 to Dec. 27. This was a 300 p.c enhance from the 16 fires they responded to throughout the identical time interval in 2021.

“They had been responding across the clock via the vacations, usually leaving their household and their celebrations at house, to reply to assist their neighborhood members and neighbors in want,” stated Lisa Landis, who works for the American Crimson Cross Larger Pennsylvania Area.

Landis stated they spent a lot time offering shelter, clothes, and meals to these impacted and can proceed to supply them psychological well being, religious care, and help discovering new housing.

She urges households to take precautions earlier than it is too late.

“You’ll be able to have as little as two minutes within the occasion of a house hearth to flee safely, and having working smoke alarms decreases your danger of loss of life or harm by as a lot as 50 p.c,” Landis stated.

Have these smoke alarms, take a look at them repeatedly, make a fireplace escape plan and educate your kids.

“Let the kids hear what that smoke alarm appears like, so when it does go off, if the worst had been to happen, they’re accustomed to that sound they usually know easy methods to get out of the house safely,” Landis stated.

In December, a minimum of 12 folks died in eight fires within the Pittsburgh area.