Medical Examiner IDs Woman, 74, Killed In Upper St. Clair Fire

UPPER ST. CLAIR, Pa.,None — The medical examiner has identified a 74-year-old woman killed in a house fire at a home in Upper St. Clair on Saturday.

Joann Monnig died of carbon monoxide and smoke inhalation.

Investigators said the McMillian Road home was made primarily of wood and went up in flames in a matter of minutes.

Police said Monnig and her daughter were on the second floor of the home when the fire broke out. While the daughter was able to escape out a window, her mother was not, police said.

"The daughter began to smell smoke and see smoke. She tried to rescue her mother and to urge her to get out of the home," said Upper Saint Clair Police Lt. James Englert.

Investigators said both women were on the second floor when the fire began and were unable to get downstairs because of the intense heat.

"They retreated to a rear master bedroom suite and the daughter escaped through the window," Englert said. "We do have testimony from a passersby who indicated they were in the rear of the home attempting to urge the victim to escape and jump from the window and got no response."

One neighbor described the scene to Channel 11 News.

"It went pretty quickly. It went extremely quickly," said Sergio Amatangelo. "Sort of looked like an enormous bonfire."

The daughter was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital, where her condition hasn't been released.

Investigators said because of the destruction from the fire, they may never know what caused the blaze.

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