30 apartments evacuated due to fire in Castle Shannon

CASTLE SHANNON, Pa. — Thirty apartments were evacuated due to a fire in Castle Shannon on Wednesday.

Allegheny County 911 dispatchers said crews were called to the 800 block of Sleepy Hollow Road at 9:10 a.m.

Our crew at the scene saw residents being evacuated from Shannon Hollow.

“Fortunately no one was hurt,” Rob Benson said.

Benson is thankful that none of his neighbors were injured after a fire broke out at their apartment complex.

He woke up to banging on his front door.

“I woke up and they were pounding on the door for everyone to come out. When I came out, there was smoke down there from one of the upstairs apartments,” Benson told Channel 11.

Once everyone was out safely, crews rescued three cats that were reunited with their owners.

Several people are out of their homes because of the damage.

“I don’t know when we’ll get back in. All the utilities were shut off. Gas company was here earlier,” Benson added

According to the Castle Shannon Fire Chief, the fire started on the outside of the building and was most likely an air conditioning unit that caught fire.

They were able to get it under control.

“We are very fortunate with maintaining the fire below the roofline. This is a common fire and we didn’t have any extension in the attic, and that could have been a concern for us in getting the fire under control,” Castle Shannon Fire Chief Bill Reffner said.

However, there was another issue: a lack of manpower.

“During daylight, most departments are a little short on manpower. I had to go to a third alarm just to get more resources,” Chief Reffner added.

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