Local

West Deer firefighter helps family escape burning home

GIBSONIA, Pa. — A West Deer firefighter woke a sleeping family early Sunday and got them safely out of their burning home, the fire chief said.

Josh Wiegand, chief of West Deer Volunteer Fire Co. No. 3, said his sister-in-law, firefighter Miste Wiegand, lives near the fire scene and arrived at the house on Dawn Road shortly after neighbors called 911 around 5:40 a.m.

“At that point the fire was already in the attic and had gone through the roof,” Josh Wiegand said. “There were no working smoke detectors in the home.”

Three adults and three children live there, but Josh Wiegand said their identities were not immediately known.

Firefighters believe the fire started on the ground floor and went through a wall into the attic. An Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause. No one was injured. Josh Wiegand said the fire caused extensive damage, but he could not provide a cost estimate.

The American Red Cross is providing the family with emergency relief.

This article was written by Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.