The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Seven firefighters are expected to make full recoveries from injuries sustained while saving an elderly woman from her burning Wilkinsburg home on Friday morning.
One firefighter burned his hands while carrying the unidentified woman from the three-alarm blaze on Ross Avenue, while two others were hospitalized with bone fractures, city officials said.
Mayor Bill Peduto called the firefighters heroes whose actions exemplified the city’s ideals.
“Those bones will mend, but that’s the heroism we want to see in public safety,” Peduto said, standing outside West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, where one of the firefighters was being treated.
Fire Chief Darryl Jones said he would investigate how they were injured and take precautions to prevent it from happening again.
“When one of them gets hurt, I feel it,” Jones said. “And I want to do everything I can to find out why and to prevent it from happening in the future.”
The city covers fires in Wilkinsburg under a contract that began in 2011, though officials said the city responded to the borough’s fires before that. The contract recently was renewed.
It has been an active area for emergencies, said Ralph Sicuro, president of Pittsburgh Firefighters Local 1.
“It is a hot spot,” Sicuro said. “There’s no doubt about it.” Jones said he didn’t immediately have statistics on fires in the borough.
The cause of Friday’s blaze is being investigated, officials said. Firefighters responded shortly after 9 a.m. to what became a three-alarm call. Two women and a young girl were able to escape unharmed, but the elderly woman was trapped on the second floor.
Firefighters carried her out of the house and lowered her down on a ladder, Pittsburgh Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Cook said. Several jumped from the second-floor windows as the blaze spread quickly and engulfed the home.
The injured firefighters were in high spirits and understood the risks they assume with their jobs, Peduto said. All would be given time to heal.
“We’re going to make sure, as Pittsburghers, that all seven of them come back 100 percent OK,” he said.
Officials did not identify the resident or the injured firefighters. WPXI-TV reported the woman is 86 years old. She was taken to UPMC Mercy and is in stable condition.
The family is staying with a neighbor, according to city officials. American Red Cross officials were on the scene in the late morning to offer financial assistance.
Three of the seven Pittsburgh firefighters injured on Friday were released from UPMC Mercy Hospital by the afternoon, while three others were admitted, the city’s Department of Public Safety said.
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