PLEASANT HILLS, Pa. — Firefighters from all over the area rushed to the Southpointe Towers Tuesday morning.
Dispatchers said the call for a fire came in around 7:41 a.m.
“I was sleeping and all I heard was, ‘Bang bang bang bang. Get out. There’s fire in the building. Get out,’” said Veronica Turner.
Firefighters found the fire in one of the apartments on the third floor.
“It’s concrete construction, so it makes it very difficult for the fire to travel left, right, up or down. The bad thing is that keeps a lot of the heat in the apartment. So when you open the apartment door it’s just like an inferno,” said Pleasant Hills Volunteer Fire Company Assistant Cheif Jim Rush.
“I saw smoke on our floor. It was really heavy and thick,” Turner said.
Residents started evacuating, but others couldn’t get out on their own, so firefighters and police officers had to help. Seventy-five total residents were evacuated from the building.
“They really are not worried about themselves. They’re worried about getting the residents out,” said Pleasant Hills Police Department Chief Brian Finnerty.
One resident was taken to the hospital, and one person was arrested for public intoxication.
“I don’t think we’ve been here for at least 20 years. We have your usual fire alarms. Someone pulls the alarm or maybe someone is smoking in the stairwell, nothing that’s really an issue aside from today,” Rush said.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating.
At this time, details about the cause of the fire have not been released.