3-alarm fire tears through home on Pittsburgh's North Side

By Megan Guza / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Brenda McElroy saw smoke and followed it.

It led her to her own North Side home, engulfed in flames.

The fire on the 1200 block of Dickson Street started shortly after 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The fire rose quickly to two alarms — that is, the size of the blaze demanded more manpower than the original response. Fire crews eventually had to evacuate the two-story duplex and battle the flames from outside.

Just before 1:30 p.m., the fire increased to three alarms. 

Ms. McElroy leaned heavily on her cane and bowed her head.

“What am I going to do?” she asked.

She wasn’t home when the fire started — the house had no heat, she said, and so she was at a friend’s home nearby. Her son was in the Dickson Street house, though, trying to keep warm with a propane heater.

She said the heater started the fire, and her son tried to put it out.

Police said the other unit of the duplex was vacant. Three people from an adjacent home were evacuated out of an abundance of caution.

No civilians were injured, but a firefighter sustained a minor back injury during the response. Police said the firefighter has since been treated and released.