Apartment Blaze in Ross Twp. Brings 6 Alarms

19:47 – Initial call to 911 in Allegheny County reported that the Boiler Room for the Chapel Hill Apartments at 5900 Babcock Blvd was on fire. Initial units arriving on scene from 247 (Berkeley Hills) reported that they had smoke pushing and some fire showing from the 4 story building. Evacuation of the property was beginning but many residents were unaware of the problem initially.

Realizing that there could be an extreme life safety issue, a second alarm was struck at 19:58, bringing Cherry City along with 5 other companies for support. EMS also requested that a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) be dispatched due to the amount of people and fire load within the building. The fire was quickly spreading to the upper floors, trapping multiple occupants inside their apartments. 260 Truck was en-route immediately staffed with 6 and arrived on scene in North Ross Township within 7 minutes of dispatch. We were partnered up with Peebles Engine 188 Crew to assist with search and evacuation. 260/188 rescued and extricated multiple victims via ground ladders and interior stairs. Crews had to force entry into many apartments to gain access to the trapped occupants. The fire eventually reached 6-alarms due to the size of the building and the occupancy. Once all occupants were extricated and accounted for, 260 truck was re-tasked with overhaul operations on the 3rd division, searching for additional fire and hot spots.

It was a long night, with a lot of sweat and muscle poured into helping these residents avoid an early fate, but this is the outcome that we always want… No fatalities. Despite some people being treated for smoke inhalation, the effects are short term and those people will be ok. The combined effort by all agencies involved, Fire, EMS and Police prevented this incident from being much worse, and we commend all who were involved in the firefighting and rescue efforts. Cause of the fire is under investigation by the Ross Township Fire Marshal and Allegheny County Fire Marshal.