Local

Penn Hills neighbors decorate house destroyed by fire to draw city's attention

PENN HILLS, Pa. — A group of Penn Hills residents decorated a house destroyed by fire in hopes of drawing attention from the city.

According to the neighbors, the house caught fire in March and was destroyed, but the house is still standing because the city hasn’t torn it down.

Julie Martin contacted Channel 11 News and said some of the neighbors have been calling the city for months, but they keep getting different excuses.

The neighbors put a giant red bow on the house as a holiday decoration in hopes of drawing attention from the city, Martin said.

Neighbors told Channel 11’s Alan Jennings that they’re upset because the home is an eyesore, brings down property value and is in danger of collapsing.

“To have it still standing there is a constant reminder of probably the worst day of my life,” said Amy Davis, who lives next door to the house. “I was outside with no shoes on. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never been that close to a fire.”

Davis said the bow “was done to bring light to a situation where there’s no humor at all.”

Penn Hills officials said they will have the building torn down in the next few weeks.