Emergency crews respond to three-alarm fire at duplex in Pittsburgh neighborhood

PITTSBURGH — Sweat poured down the faces of firefighters on Griffin Street Wednesday afternoon.

“That’s why it was raised to three alarms: ... to bring extra manpower out,” said Maurice Matthews, the assistant public information officer for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety.

The high temperatures combined with turnout gear and the heat of the flames does bring challenges to fighting a fire.

“We want to make sure the firefighters are hydrated, so they have been hydrating all day, they are hydrating currently and will hydrate after,” Matthews said.

When firefighters got to 510 Griffin St. just after 1 p.m., they saw smoke and quickly were able to put out the fire inside. Despite their fast reaction time, the duplex suffered damage to both bottom floors and smoke damage above.

While no one was inside, the homeowners did lose their pets.

“Firefighters did locate three pets in the two structures. Two cats and one dog were extricated and pronounced deceased,” Matthews said.

The fire marshal and investigation team are still working to figure out what started the fire, but they believe it came from the left-side home of the duplex.

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