Firefighter hurt in fully-involved house fire in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood

PITTSBURGH — Crews were called to a house fire in the city’s Lincoln Place neighborhood on Wednesday morning.

It was the second time they’d been called to the house, located on Interboro Avenue near the intersection of Brierly Lane.

Crews were dispatched for a report of a fire around 3 a.m., hours before flames tore through the house.

According to Pittsburgh police, a couch had caught fire. The blaze was believed to be caused by careless smoking.

Lt. Ralph Browning told Channel 11 that the person who lives there and rents the property was able to put that fire out herself. Police said firefighters ensured the blaze was extinguished before ventilating the house and leaving.

When crews got called to a second fire, around 6:30 a.m., they arrived to find a fully-involved fire.

Police said the resident wasn’t home at the time of the second fire.

“We were definitely concerned that someone was in the house. We did do a search of the entire house, top to bottom, including the casement, and she was not found,” Browning said.

Neighbors were scared the fire would spread to their houses.

“When I saw the flames out the window, I was thinking it might be big enough to come over to the house, so we started grabbing all the kids and got out,” said Yukonnia, who lives next door with her family.

One firefighter was taken to a hospital in stable condition after part of the ceiling collapsed on his helmet. No other injuries were reported.

Firefighters wouldn’t say if it’s considered to be suspicious, but the cause is under investigation by the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

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