Seven firefighters are expected to make full recoveries from injuries suffered while saving an elderly woman from her burning home Friday in Wilkinsburg.
One firefighter burned his hands while carrying the woman, who was not identified, from the three-alarm blaze on Ross Avenue, and two others were hospitalized with bone fractures, city officials said.
The woman, 86, according to reports, was taken to UPMC Mercy and was in stable condition.
UPDATE: 7 firefighters injured while battling Wilkinsburg house fire: https://t.co/L2nXCOm4XI pic.twitter.com/nuZjUC6MRW
– KDKA (@CBSPittsburgh) January 1, 2016
Mayor Bill Peduto called the firefighters heroes whose actions exemplify the city’s ideals.
“Those bones will mend, but that’s the heroism we want to see in public safety,” Peduto said outside West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, where one of the firefighters was being treated.
Three of the seven firefighters were treated and released from UPMC Mercy, while three others were admitted, the city’s Department of Public Safety said.
Firefighter being treated by paramedics at fire in Wilkinsburg on Ross near Coal. #WTAE pic.twitter.com/iMsYoMPcf8
– Bob Mayo (@BMayo_WTAE) January 1, 2016
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is working with Pittsburgh arson investigators to determine the cause of the fire, which is routine, officials said.
Fire Chief Darryl Jones said he plans to investigate how the firefighters 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.”
Officials did not identify the injured firefighters.
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 then. The contract recently was renewed.
Wilkinsburg 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 that in 2014 and 2015, firefighters responded to a total of about 1,800 calls in the borough.
Firefighters responded to Friday’s blaze shortly after 9 a.m. 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 second-floor windows as the blaze quickly engulfed the home. Two firefighters were injured while assisting those who had jumped, Sicuro said.
Firefighters are trained to know when it’s necessary to make an emergency escape from a building, he said.
“(The jump) did cost them, but fortunately it didn’t cost them their life,” Sicuro said.
The injured firefighters are in high spirits and understand the risks they assume with their jobs, Peduto said, noting that 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.
The residents of the home are staying with a neighbor, according to city officials. American Red Cross officials were on the scene to offer financial assistance.
Chris Fleisher is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cfleisher@tribweb.com Staff writer Elizabeth Behrman contributed.
