Homeowners believe downed power line caused fire that destroyed home in Greenfield

PITTSBURGH — Flames were shooting out of the roof of a home on Montclair Street in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

“I was frightened because we lost everything, said Dolores Borish, who has lived in the home with her husband John since 1989.

She believes the power line in front of their home is to blame for the blaze.

“The wire exploded outside and hit the house and everything in the house started sparking, the TV and everything, and the pipes broke. The electricity — I don’t know what it did to all the appliances, but the refrigerator door blew open,” Borish described.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by Pittsburgh Fire officials, but next door neighbor Ellie Durham-Britton also believes an electrical line is to blame.

“We heard just this really sudden sparking, sputtering, like loud electrical noise. We saw a bright flash of light and we were like, ‘Oh man, is that a transformer breaking or something like that?’ We looked out and their gutters were like sparking like crazy,” Durham-Britton said.

According to Borish, firefighters had to wait until Duquesne Light crews arrived before they were able to begin battling the flames.

“They couldn’t put it out because the power company didn’t show up for I would say at least an hour,” said Borish. “The lines were down, they were still sparking. The house was still sparking. The house was electrified.”

Neighbors were without power for several hours.

Borish and her husband escaped the fire, but their cat Hobo was trapped inside.

Firefighters were eventually able to rescue Hobo and give the cat oxygen before Borish and a neighbor took him to an emergency vet for treatment.

“He’s in oxygen and he has to stay a couple days to four days. I don’t know. I’m just glad my cat’s out. He’s so precious,” Borish said.

The emergency vet bills are expected to cost between $7,000 and $10,000.

Neighbors started a GoFundMe for the family to help pay those bills.

Channel 11 reached out to Duquesne Light officials about the fire. A spokesperson sent this statement:

“We are aware that power lines were involved in a house fire this afternoon. We are grateful that no one was hurt and are working with fire officials to investigate the cause and whether the high winds were a contributing factor.”

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