Teenage girls sleeping in garage when fire breaks out

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two teenage girls were sleeping inside a garage when it caught fire early Sunday morning in Ross Township.

Firefighters were called about 3 a.m. to battle the flames on William Street.

Ava Pillar, 14, said the garage was being turned into a hangout spot for her, and she and a friend had a sleepover there Saturday night.

Pillar said her friend woke her up when she smelled smoke and saw a small fire. They then ran to the house for help.

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Within minutes, the garage was consumed by flames.

“I came out to put it out. By the time I got out here, it was engulfed. It was just huge,” Marlene Pschirer, Pillar’s mother, said. “I could feel the heat from that at my door. I’m standing at my back door looking at it.”

Pillar’s friend was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Pillar was not hurt, but she lost many of her belongings.

“Most of my clothes, my school iPad, all my school stuff, my notes for school was in there, my phone … all done. It's all gone,” Pillar said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

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