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Firefighters from multiple departments responded to a house fire in the 300 block of New Kensington’s Fifth Avenue on Thursday night.
The fire at 324 Fifth Ave. in the Parnassus section of the city was reported shortly before 8:30 p.m. Crews used three ladders to get to the second floor and the roof of the building.
New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba said the homeowner was outside gardening in the backyard when the fire started.
He said a preliminary investigation indicated that fire started at the rear exterior of the home, at the top of the second floor.
Crews had to tear down part of the ceiling and the walls in the third floor as they fought the fire. The home suffered water damage on all three floors in the rear of the structure, as well as some fire damage on the third floor.
“The fire appears to be accidental,” Saliba said. “It’s still under investigation.”
Next-door neighbor Deanna Nicholas said she had been asleep on a couch when she received a text message from another neighbor alerting her of the fire and telling her to get out of her house. She said she and her family made it out safely, and it did not appear that her house suffered any damage.
A cooling station was set up at the scene for firefighters because of the warm temperatures. About 70 volunteers responded to the call, including crews from Arnold, Tarentum and Lower Burrell.
“Once the crews went through an air cylinder, we sent them to rehab to check their vitals (and we) made sure they had fluids in them and we’d send a fresh crew in,” Saliba said. “Kept rotating the crews because of the heat and humidity.”
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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