Fire at McKeesport high-rise injures 3, displaces 200

Three people were transported to the hospital, two in critical condition, following an apartment fire Friday afternoon that displaced about 200 residents in McKeesport.

Firefighters were called to the McKeesport Towers, a housing authority high-rise on Sixth Street, shortly before 3 p.m. for a report of an apartment fire.

“We had the fire out within 20 minutes,” said Gene Eskin, deputy chief of the McKeesport Fire Department. “But it was a big task getting everyone out, especially on the upper floors.”

Eskin said the fire was confined to a single apartment on the building’s seventh floor.

“There’s a lot of smoke damage on the upper floors and water damage on the lower floors,” he said.

Tribune-Review news partner WTAE reports that three people were taken to the hospital. Two of them are in critical condition, authorities said.

Displaced residents were being aided by housing authority officials and the American Red Cross. In addition, local animal response teams are working to house and reunite pets with their owners.

“They’re going to some of the other units throughout the city,” Eskin said.