Residents, pets safely evacuate burning East Liberty apartment complex

PITTSBURGH — Firefighters spent Tuesday morning battling a three-alarm fire at an apartment building in East Liberty.

The blaze broke out shortly after 7 a.m. along North Negley Avenue.

Steve Otway said he ran back into the burning building to help save his neighbor.

“I just went in and banged on the door as hard as I could,” said Otway. “And then I heard the fire trucks and once I came out, I let them knew we didn’t know if they were out."

Crews were able to safely evacuate all residents.  However, they may not be allowed back in the building for several days.

“We do not want people going back into the building,” said Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Cook. “The smoke will kill you faster than you can believe.”

Firefighters also rescued eight cats and several dogs, some of which needed oxygen at the scene, Channel 11’s Dave Bondy said. Those pets are expected to be OK.

“We watched them pull out the cats,” said Otway. “She is our neighbor, so it is good to see they got her cats out.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

WPXI