A man was killed Tuesday in a two-alarm fire in Munhall.
Munhall Deputy Chief Glenn Coles said the fire, which was first reported around 4:15 p.m., was extinguished about an hour after their arrival.
He confirmed the fatality of the “lifelong resident,” but officials have not released the name of the victim, who a neighbor said was elderly.
Property tax records show that the 1,140-square-foot home is owned by Thomas A. Kennedy.
“There was about five or six of us that tried to get him out,” said Patti Meehan, 65, of Munhall. Ms. Meehan was visiting a friend one street over from the victim’s home when the fire started. “It was just too smoky.”
Deputy Chief Coles said fire crews had a hard time getting into the house because of the smoke and the heat.
“You couldn’t see the house when we pulled up,” he said. “We were here relatively quick, but the fire had a head start today.”
Ken Johnson was sitting on his porch next door. “I saw a little bit of smoke and then I saw all the flames,” he said.
Mr. Johnson said he helped cut the lawn and trim the hedges of the victim’s home.
“It’s tough on [the firefighters] when you come across somebody you can’t help,” Deputy Chief Coles said. “We did everything we could, but unfortunately this time it wasn’t enough.”
Fire crews were still on scene at 6 p.m. cleaning up.
Unbelievable video shared by neighbor Ken Johnson of the house fire in Munhall. We are expecting an update from the Deputy Chief any minute @WPXI pic.twitter.com/9sPYGSFvgO
— Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) June 1, 2021
First Published: June 1, 2021, 9:42 p.m.
Updated: June 1, 2021, 10:31 p.m.