Top Stories

Swissvale home nearly burns after cutting board catches fire

A Swissvale woman’s apartment nearly went up in flames Monday after her stovetop caught fire.

Lisa Sayre turned on the wrong burner, igniting a cutting board and more, she told Channel 11. She began to scream for help.

In her Woodlawn Street neighborhood, a hello isn’t hard to find amongst neighbors, and it turns out help isn’t, either.

“I knew I wanted to live here because I got out of the car and heard someone say, ‘Hey baby, what are you are looking for?’ It told me this was a nice place to live,” she said.

A burned cutting board and water filter is all the proof she needs.

“I just wanted to make a pot of tea and I got up and I turned on what I thought was the right burner on the stove underneath my teakettle, but had a cutting board sitting on another burner,” she said.

TRENDING NOW:

With flames shooting from her stove burners, she called her neighbors for help, and John Mitchell came running

“They were melting as I was running,” he said.

Without hesitation, Mitchell picked up the flaming cutting board and a nearby water filter that caught fire and threw them outside, far away from all the row homes, because he knew if one home caught fire, others could have as well.

“I have other neighbors,” he said. “I have elderly neighbors.”

After dousing the carpet with water and saving the day, these neighbors are now closer and thankful for each more than ever.

"I really love my neighbors and knowing there are people around who will take care of me when i need them,” Sayre said.

Mitchell said he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

“I consider myself a good neighbor,” he said. “Just a good neighbor.”