A Wilkinsburg police sergeant helped rescue a bedridden woman from a burning home on Wednesday in Wilkinsburg.

Sgt. Larry Singer was among the first to arrive at the home on Rebecca Avenue after the fire was reported at 9:45 a.m.

"I went into the front entrance, and they were already bringing out an 86-year-old woman who was bedridden," Singer said of the home's occupants. "We carried her over across the street and onto a grassy area."

The woman, later identified as Pearl Bradley, was conscious, but her doctor asked that medics take her to Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC for evaluation.

No one was injured in the three-alarm fire, which began on the third floor of the home and spread to the third floor of the house next door, Pittsburgh fire Deputy Chief Michael Mullen said.

Fire officials added an extra alarm because of the unusually warm spring day, Mullen said. He wanted to rotate firefighters quickly to make sure they weren't overcome.

"They're not acclimated to the higher temperatures right now," Mullen said.

Marion Bradley, 66, said he was on the first floor of the home when his sister came downstairs and said there was a fire.

Bradley said he ran up to the third floor, and it was in flames.

"I came back down and helped my mother out of the house," Bradley said. "Luckily, no one was hurt."

The American Red Cross is assisting two adults from one family, and six adults and two children from a second family, with food and shelter, spokeswoman Lauren Chapman said.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

It is the second time in less than seven years the house has caught fire.

Emanel Bradley, 61, the son of Pearl Bradley and brother of Marion Bradley, died of smoke inhalation and carbon-monoxide poisoning in a fire on May 2, 2005, that may have started when he fell asleep while smoking in bed, authorities said at the time.

Staff writer Michael Hasch contributed to this report.

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