By Sadie Gurman
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
DORMONT, Pa. — Her clothes on fire, an 81-year-old woman fell 14 feet from a ladder yesterday as firefighters tried to pull her from her burning apartment in Dormont.
A firefighter suffered minor burns trying to catch Ruth DeSimone, who died about eight hours later at UPMC Mercy.
The woman’s daughter, Diane Koerbel, leaped about 25 feet off her porch to escape the blaze. She was in critical condition last night at UPMC Mercy.
Firefighters were called about 6 a.m. to the five-unit apartment building at 2723 Broadway, where they found a second-story apartment engulfed in flames. Dormont fire Chief Dennis Davis said the fire started in the living room area of the apartment, which Ms. DeSimone shared with her daughter. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
“It’s a lot of speculation right now,” Chief Davis said. “We’re in the information-gathering stage.”
Neighbors said Ms. DeSimone moved in with her daughter recently and was ill, requiring in-home care and an oxygen tank.
The fire was contained to the second-story apartment, but about 10 people from other units were displaced due to water damage, Chief Davis said. Most were staying with relatives. The Red Cross helped shelter one resident, he said.
Will Ferlich, who lived in the apartment below, said he was awakened early yesterday by “blood-curdling screams” and saw 12-foot flames jutting from the building.
“I heard Diane screaming, ‘Help, help,’” he said. “I immediately put my shoes on, got my girlfriend up and ran out the door of my apartment.”
He then watched as Ms. Koerbel jumped 25 feet from her porch to the ground, and as firefighters tried to rescue her mother, whose clothes had caught fire. The woman jumped onto a ladder that firefighters were using to help her down from her porch, but she fell despite their efforts to catch her, Chief Davis said.
A firefighter suffered minor burns and was treated on the scene. Ms. DeSimone was burned over 50 percent of her body, Chief Davis said.
“She was on fire from her feet to her hair,” Mr. Ferlich said. “It was horrific.”
Copyright 2009 P.G. Publishing Co.