A fire that ignited early Friday morning claimed the life of a 19-year-old pregnant woman, identified as Sabrina Boyle, in Elrama, Washington County. The blaze was reported to have started around 5 a.m. on Fairview Street, said Chief Lenny Bailey of the Elrama Volunteer Fire Company, according to WTAE. Officials indicated that three other adults escaped the fire unharmed.
Neighbors were awakened to a chaotic scene as emergency vehicles swarmed the area. Dzintra Ullis, having moved to the neighborhood just a year prior, and Leslie Naple commented on the devastating nature of the event, with Naple expressing shock, "I came running out and it was just engulfed in flames," she stated, as per CBS News Pittsburgh. "It was horrible, horrible. Your whole life goes up in smoke in one minute," Naple said. The recollection captures a fraction of the community's distress as it grapples with the tragedy.
Firefighters managed to rescue Boyle through a second-story window, an effort Chief Bailey acknowledged, "We did what we could," according to an interview detailed by CBS News Pittsburgh. Boyle was 24 weeks pregnant and a graduate of Elizabeth Forward High School.
The house was reported as a total loss and the cause of the fire remains under investigation by a fire marshal.
