Brackenridge fire leaves family homeless

No one was injured in a fire that heavily damaged a Third Avenue home Sunday afternoon, but a family of six was left homeless.

Pioneer Hose fire Chief Rick Jones said the fire swept through the single-story home at 1040 Third Ave. about 4 p.m. Sunday, blowing out the windows.

Although firefighters extinguished the blaze within minutes, Jones said the house was uninhabitable.

The residents -- a mother and her five children -- were not home. Their names were not immediately available.

The Salvation Army was assisting them, Jones said. He believed the family was renting the house and did not have renter's insurance.

The fire is not considered suspicious, Jones said. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause but said it appears accidental.

Jones said he called in extra units to assist due to the heat. He said crews rotated duties and no firefighters reported ill effects from working in temperatures that reached the upper 80s on Sunday.

A few neighboring fire companies were called from a generator fire at the Upper Allegheny Joint Sanitary Authority in East Deer when the Brackenridge fire was reported.