2 rescued from fire in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Fire tore through a two-unit home on Beechview Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood around 4:30 Tuesday morning. The man who owns the home and rents it out says not much is salvageable.

“It’s a total loss. Without a doubt. Not only from the fire, but from what they did to get the fire out,” explained landlord John Piconi.

Right now, Piconi is not concerned about the gutted building. He’s worried about the people who lived there.

“My main concern right now is not the structure. That’s just a material item,” he said. “I just feel bad for the people who were here. I can go home to my home. They’re displaced now.”

Pittsburgh fire officials say the woman living downstairs escaped on her own. The couple upstairs had to be rescued.

“We met a gentleman halfway up the steps. We walked him out. He told us there was another female in the second floor bedroom, so I took my crew up and we did a search of the second floor,” said Lt. Brian Matts, who helped carry the woman out of the home.

She was given CPR and rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

The man also went to the hospital in stable condition.

“Nobody wants to come across that situation,” said Matts. “Fortunately, I have a really good crew and when we go in to do something like that I feel confident that we’re going to be able to at least get them out of the house.”

The investigation into how the fire got started is now underway.

“From the arson people, they said it looks like a cooking incident upstairs,” said Piconi. “That’s all we know at this point.”

Piconi says he has insurance to help cover the damage.

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