No one injured in Brackenridge fire; house destroyed

There were no injuries in a fire Saturday that severely damaged a house at 1108 Third Ave.

Pioneer Hose Fire Chief Rick Jones said the house is owned and occupied by Russell and Roberta Linderman.

He said they and their dog were not home when the fire broke out at about 3:34 p.m.

"There's no injuries," Jones said. "Nobody is hurt and we're really happy about that."

Brian Cuda of Chalfant was with his girlfriend who lives in Harrison, when they saw the smoke and went to see what was going on.

From the alley behind the house, Cuda pointed to where firefighters were pulling siding off the rear of the house. The rear first floor of the two-story wood frame house was blackened and much of the gray vinyl siding was melted.

"That's where most of the flames were," Cuda said. "When we got here it was coming out of the backdoor, out the back window and out the roof."

"The guys did an awesome knockdown," Jones said. "I think we had it knocked down in a half hour. It was a quick knock down, it was getting ugly."

He said the Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating, but Jones said the fire definitely started in the kitchen at the rear of the house.

Jones said about 40 firefighters from Pioneer, Highland Hose, Eureka Fire Rescue and Hilltop Hose responded.

He said the additional companies were called in to help provide relief to the first firefighters on the scene who battled temperatures in the low to mid-90's as well as the fire.

Firefighters remained on the scene through 6:30 p.m.

Jones said the house is not habitable and the Lindermans were staying with relatives.