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Victim describes escape from fire in apartment building

SHALER, Pa. — A victim who managed to escape an apartment fire in Shaler and help rescue her neighbor is sharing her story only with Channel 11.

Cecelia Renaud heard glass breaking early Saturday morning; when she looked out her Cambridge House Apartment door, and she saw a couch on fire.

"I opened my door up again and I saw the flames on a couch completely engulfed," Renaud said.

Renaud has played the events in her head over and over again -- the terrifying moments after she first discovered the fire outside her door, to navigating the smoke-filled hallway and using the wall to lead her to safety.

"I got out the back door and I was the only one standing in the parking lot, which upset me more because I thought people would get hurt," Renaud said.

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She immediately called 911, pleading with emergency rescuers to get there as quickly as possible.

Moments later, she heard a scream inside. The flames trapped her neighbor across the hall inside his apartment.

"I said, 'Is there another window you can get out of?' He said, 'yeah, the back side.' So I went around the back side of the building and kicked in the screen and helped him out because he was the closest one to the fire," Renaud said.

Renaud and six of her neighbors were treated for smoke inhalation and one firefighter suffered a hand injury.

It was the second fire in the apartment building on Mt. Royal Boulevard in a matter of hours.

Renaud says physically she's feeling better, but now must find a place to live while investigators search for a cause.

Firefighters used ladders to pull several residents to safety.

Allegheny County officials have ruled the fires arson and said the two are linked.

Shaler police are now investigating.

 

Cox Media Group

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