PLUM, Pa. — A home on Pierson Run Road in Plum is destroyed after a fire tore through it around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Thick smoke poured out of the home all morning and well into the afternoon while firefighters worked for hours to get the fire under control.
Tankers had to be brought in, and a system of water was set up to make sure firefighters had what they needed to get the job done in a rural area without hydrants.
“They set up these dunk tanks - they dump their tank water in there that way they can leave and go get more,” Asst. Chief Glenn Kopec Jr. said. “You set up a system like this so you keep moving.”
The Assistant Fire Chief for the Unity Volunteer Fire Company said the time of day also affected how many departments responded. They came from Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.
“It was a daylight fire,” Kopec Jr. added. “Volunteers are scarce during the day because they have jobs.”
When the flames were out and all the smoke cleared, the home was gone. Nothing was left but a blackened wood frame. The metal roof also had to be ripped off, and the home was demolished with heavy machinery because so much heat was trapped, and the fire kept rekindling.
“We have the excavator to remove the house from on top of itself, so we can actually get in there and make sure it’s out before we leave,” Kopec Jr. added.
Crews also had to use a specialized foam that penetrates materials like wood, when the water wasn’t cutting it.
The homeowner was able to get out, but we’re told his dog did not survive.
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