Fire destroys Lower Burrell home, family left homeless

A Lower Burrell family was left homeless after fire gutted their home Wednesday.

Scott Gloer, deputy chief of Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3, said most of the family was out of the house at 235 Michigan Ave. when the fire started. He said there was one child still inside who came out when the fire started.

The house was fully involved, with flames visible from the front to the back, when firefighters arrived. The blaze was reported about 11 a.m.

Gloer called the house a total loss.

He said the cause of the fire was deemed accidental and the flames started in the kitchen area.

There were no injuries reported.

“It took probably about 40 minutes to knock down the bulk of the fire,” Gloer said. “We had some water supply issues. People ran over some of our supply hoses as they were getting out of the plan.”

There were multiple children living in the home. Two of them are Burrell School District students, according to Greg Egnor, the district’s director of student services.

Egnor said he was working in his capacity as the district’s homeless liaison to help the family. Egnor arrived at the scene of the fire as emergency crews were beginning to pack up their gear.

“We came together to see what we can do to help the family, and we wanted to make sure their needs were being met as best as I could since I’m here,” Egnor said.

He said he was familiar with the family and has known the students involved for a while. He said the students will continue to attend Burrell School District, according to law, no matter where they have to stay. He said all of the social services needed will be established through the American Red Cross.

Deupty fire Chief Gloer said the house’s construction was problematic.

“Some of the difficulties are the lightweight construction,” Gloer said. “It’s really good for the construction industry, but it burns fast and it becomes unsafe.”

Gloer said there were multiple areas in the house where the floor was weakened by the fire, and much of the roof was burned through.

“That’s all dangerous to my firefighters,” Gloer said.

More than 10 fire companies from surrounding communities reported to the scene, among them volunteers from Plum, Arnold, New Kensington, Tarentum and Oakmont.

“I want to say thank you to all of our mutual aid departments that came out,” Gloer said.