A fire rampaged through a Unity Township home in Westmoreland County early in the morning, causing significant damage and resulting in injuries. As reported by WTAE, firefighters received the call after 3:30 a.m. for the residence located on the 1600 block of Route 130. The Unity Township Bureau of Fire issued a community alert, advising locals to steer clear of the area to give emergency crews sufficient room to operate safely.
Despite the early hour, the smoke detectors within the home successfully functioned to alert the residents, enabling them to escape without injury quickly. "When I pulled in, there were flames shooting out the front, the side and blowing out the back," Dry Ridge Fire Chief Rich Levay described the scene in a statement to TribLIVE. An attached garage with a bedroom above it sustained the heaviest damage, with its wooden frames charred and the roof deformed. A vehicle parked inside was also reported destroyed. The damage had begun to spread to the living areas, but firefighters could contain it quickly to prevent further devastation.
According to TribLIVE, the extent of the fire's impact was evident as Levay assessed the aftermath, confirming, "Smoke damage throughout, it’s not livable." He underscored the severity of the situation, noting that the pervasive smoke damage rendered the residence uninhabitable. During the firefighting efforts, one firefighter sustained a burn to the hand, adding a personal cost to the exigent response required by such incidents. A state police fire marshal has been enlisted to investigate the cause and origin of this destructive fire.
