ROBINSON TOWNSHIP: Dryer fire scorches duplex unit, displaces family

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A mother of three is looking for what’s next after a morning fire destroyed their home in Robinson Township.

An Allegheny County 911 supervisor says emergency crews were called to the 100 block of Village Drive at 11:20 a.m.

According to the Robinson Township Volunteer Fire Co., the fire started in a dryer inside a duplex.

Crews got the fire under control in less than 15 minutes, containing it to one room.

No injuries were reported.

One of the renters tells Channel 11 that she put some clothes in the dryer and went upstairs to brush her teeth. When she smelled something burning, she came back downstairs to see the dryer and almost everything near it on fire.

The damage to her unit is extensive. She recalled the dramatic moments when she alerted her daughter to what was happening.

“So I had to go upstairs to get my daughter, so as I was banging on her door to get her up and downstairs, I came back down to see if I could put it out, but by the time I came, the whole front of the smoke had came down, so I couldn’t,” Lareesha Coleman said.

The Red Cross is assisting her and her family.

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