ROCHESTER, Pa. — The wind kicked up Sunday evening sending firefighters scrambling to get out of a burning Beaver County home.
“It wasn’t two to three minutes in, and the wind conditions picked up and drove this fire like a blowtorch,” said Rochester Fire Chief Mike Mamone III.
Beaver County dispatchers say firefighters were called to the 400 block of East Washington Avenue in Rochester at 5:20 p.m.
Smoke could be seen billowing above the community from across the Ohio River.
PHOTOS: Smoke, flames billow out of house in Rochester
Mamone said the conditions weren’t even safe for the firefighters as the smoke thickened and you couldn’t even see the homes.
“The problem is smoke unburned fuel and if there is enough smoke and temperatures and gases can light off and cause us more problems. At one point these buildings were burning you could feel the radiating heat very far into the street,” Mamone said.
After several hours, the fire was under control, but one person was taken to the hospital from the first home rescued by police before the flames jumped.
“I just feel bad for the people I hope everyone made it out safe, I feel bad for the two firemen who got injured,” said Allison Schriver with lives nearby.
Those two firefighters had medical conditions and are being treated at a local hospital. As for what started the fire, that’s under investigation.
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