An elderly couple escaped injury Tuesday morning, fleeing a blaze that destroyed their home in the Hahntown section of North Huntingdon, a fire official said.
Flames were already jumping through the windows of 319 Main St. when crews arrived, said Fairmont-Hahntown Fire Chief Cecil “Skip” Cook.
While initial reports suggested someone might be trapped, the couple had successfully made it outside before firefighters reached the house, Cook said.
The cause of the blaze, which was reported at approximately 11:30 a.m., is under investigation by North Huntingdon Police Sgt. Nick Dreistadt. According to Westmoreland County tax maps, the house is owned by Regina and Charles E. Bazala Sr.
The fire had already consumed the first floor by the time the first trucks arrived, Cook said. The Salvation Army was contacted to assist the displaced family.
As portions of the roof and sides of the two-story building collapsed, firefighters poured water into the structure from the ground and from two overhead ladder trucks.
“We had a good mutual aid response with all of our neighboring departments. We ended up using a lot of massive streams to knock the fire down,” Cook said. “It was a tough fire to fight with the wind and how it pushed (the flames) right through the house.”
Firefighters faced hazardous conditions, including heavy smoke, single-digit temperatures and a bone-chilling wind. Because the house sat on a hillside, water runoff created treacherous, icy conditions that coated the firefighters’ masks and bunker gear in ice.
As water rushed through the home and down an embankment onto Main Street, two North Huntingdon public works trucks arrived to spread salt and prevent a massive ice buildup on the roadway.
Fairmont-Hahntown firefighters were assisted by departments from elsewhere in North Huntingdon, as well as Irwin, North Irwin, Hempfield and Manor.
One unidentified firefighter was taken by ambulance to a medical facility after being injured in a fall, Cook said.
Cook said heavy machinery will be brought in to demolish the home’s remnants.
