Firefighters battle blaze at McCandless auto repair shop

McCANDLESS, Pa. — Firefighters battled flames Monday morning at an auto repair shop on Perry Highway in McCandless.

Authorities said the fire was first reported at a building in the 8100 block of Perry Highway just before 8 a.m.

The owner of the auto repair shop, Ray Platt, told Channel 11’s Lori Houy that he received a call that his garage was on fire, so he rushed to the scene.

“It’s hard to believe,” Platt said. “I don’t know what happened or what caused it.”

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Houy reported a school bus was brought in to keep firefighters warm as they rotated working to extinguish the flames.

“It’s been tough and challenging. We’ve been trying to rotate crews. We work well with the North Allegheny School District, and they brought a bus to us,” Fire Chief Shawn O’Brien said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and it’s unclear how much damage the blaze caused.

Allegheny County officials said the closed section of Perry Highway reopened around 11 a.m.

WPXI