By Chris Togneri
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Firefighters evacuated dozens of elderly and disabled residents of the Richard S. Caligiuri high-rise in Allentown after fire ripped through a 10th floor-apartment last night, officials said.
One person was treated on scene for minor smoke inhalation, said deputy fire chief Dan Hennessy. Firefighters were trying to determine what caused the fire.
The fire started around 8:45 p.m. inside Deborah Acklin’s apartment. Acklin said she and her grandchildren were loading dirty clothes into garbage bags and planned to take the bags to the 9th floor where washing machines are located. Then they smelled smoke.
“One of the (grandkids) asked if I was smoking and if the ash fell,” Acklin said. " I said, ‘No.’ Then I went into the bedroom and two of the garbage bags were on fire.”
She said the flames were up to 6 feet high and that her grandson tried pouring buckets of water on the fire, but that only made it worse.
“It was smoky,” Acklin said. “Black smoke started going out. I told the kids to get out.”
Firefighters evacuated all residents of the 10th and 11th floors. Dozens more milled around a plaza in front of the building as crews cleaned up debris.
“When you hear ‘fire,’ you just want to get out,” said Carren Juergen, 58, a resident of the eighth floor. “You could smell smoke everywhere.”
Firefighters knocked down the flames within 20 minutes and kept the fire to the one apartment, Hennessy said. He said it was too early to estimate damages, but noted that water damage was possible in units below the fire and smoke damage was likely in apartments above.
Pittsburgh Housing Authority operates the 11-story building in the 800 block of East Warrington Avenue. Only the disabled and the elderly are eligible to live there.
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