MILLVALE, Pa. -- Firefighters returned Saturday to the same street in Millvale where a fire destroyed a vacant house the day before.
Slideshow: 2 Millvale Fires Destroy Homes In 2 Days Flames fully engulfed a vacant duplex on Siegel Street shortly before 3:15 p.m. Saturday and escalated to two alarms, emergency officials told WTAE Channel 4 Action News. Emergency officials said they had no reports of injuries.
Fire investigators brought a K-9 to the scene to sniff for any possible ignitable fluids or anything suspicious.
"We're worried about more abandoned structures in the borough. We don't really want to see this happen anymore. We don't want firefighters hurt, we don't want our civilians getting hurt. This is very unnecessary," Millvale Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Grimpe said.
Don Brucker, chief deputy fire marshal for Allegheny County, told WTAE Channel 4 Action News it was too early to determine whether the cases are connected, but there are similarities that included a "lack of utilities and they both have been vacant. We have a lot of those throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County."
Friday's fire sent flames through the roof and prompted an evacuation of homes in the 200 block of the same street at about 4:30 a.m.
Gina Folin used to live in the house. She now lives in the home next door.
"It was already a complete blaze when I woke up. I could smell the smoke. It smelled like burnt popcorn to me," she said. "I could see al the sparks. I was afraid our house was going to get hit."
WTAE Channel 4's Amber Nicotra reported Friday that the fire caused the house to split and one side wall to collapse. Firefighters used wires to stabilize the wall for a demolition crew.
"The second floor fell into the first the first floor, fell into the basement, and, obviously, we put it out. Right now, the side of the house is kind of split," Millvale Fire Chief Jim Tunstall told WTAE Channel 4 Action News in an interview Friday, calling the fire suspicious.
"Luckily, we're not still living in that home. It was scary. We could've lost everything. My husband has already been through this stuff when I was younger. The kids, this is the first time they've seen that," Folin said.
Five neighboring departments helped get the fire under control, having to overcome the narrow uphill street. There was no immediate word on what caused the fire or how much damage it caused.
"Neighborhoods need to be on lookouts for everybody else. You know, it's a different day and time," Brucker said. "Right now, we want everyone to do diligence. If they see vacant properties and open doors, they need to report it."
The Millvale fires also follow as many as nine suspicious fires in six weeks in Pittsburgh's Sheraden neighborhood, about 7½ miles away. A number of homes have been damaged or destroyed in the past month in Sheraden by what police believe is a serial arsonist. Two other suspicious fires, one set near a fence and another that damaged a garage, have also been blamed on arson.
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