Three people, including a young girl, were hospitalized late Monday after a fire in a house on the corner of Rockland and Sebring avenues in Beechview.
The fire started shortly after 11 p.m. on the back porch of a three-apartment building at 1403 Rockland Ave. Resident Greg Chapman, 25, said he was sleeping on the sofa when he heard "a popping sound" coming from the back of the house. At first, he said, he was not alarmed, but then he saw a bright glow and smelled smoke, and scrambled to a bedroom to wake his sleeping roommate, Kevin Johnson, 23.
Mr. Johnson said the two of them grabbed their phones and some clothing and ran outside where neighbors rushed up and said they had called 911.
Pittsburgh Assistant Fire Chief Tom Cook said firefighters arrived to find three people still inside the building: a man, a woman, and a young girl. The fire was still limited to the back porch area. Firefighters were able to get the them out of the house.
Assistant Chief Cook said it took firefighters only a few minutes to extinguish the flames. The three residents, who were not identified, were taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital, but are believed to be in good condition.
Assistant Chief Cook said 22 firefighters responded to the fire.
First Published: April 21, 2015, 4:51 a.m.