American Red Cross assisted at least six people with shelter on Wednesday evening after a fire in West Mifflin.
Emergency dispatchers said the three-alarm blaze at 705 McGowan Ave. was reported at 5:40. The building houses several apartments.
Firefighters arrived to find residents evacuated and some of them attempting to put out the fire using extinguishers.
“My wife and I were eating dinner, and we're sitting on the couch and smelled something funny. We saw smoke coming out underneath our table,” resident Eric Kimak told Trib Total Media news exchange partner WPXI-11.
Kimak and his wife wasted no time. They grabbed their children and made their way to the first floor.
“My wife ran downstairs to get her mother-in-law and everybody out of the building while the neighbor and I started checking everything. We got the fire extinguisher,” Kimak said.
Dispatchers said smoke was coming from the roof and the fire was in the walls of the structure.
The fire was under control around 6:45. No injuries were reported.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office is investigating.
Dispatchers said Port Authority sent a bus as a place for evacuated residents to keep warm while firefighters quelled the flames. Jefferson Hills firefighters also responded.
A building inspector is expected to visit the structure on Thursday.
