15 people displaced following McKees Rocks fire

More than a dozen people were displaced from their McKees Rocks home following a fire Thursday afternoon, according to the American Red Cross Greater Pennsylvania.

Eight families, totaling 15 people, and a dog were forced to evacuate an apartment building in the 100 block of George Street.

When crews arrived on scene shortly after 2 p.m., fire was peaking through the roof of the building that housed apartments on the second floor and the business Carol Ann’s Corner Store on the first, according to a post on the McKees Rocks Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.

A firefighter for the department told the Tribune-Review the fire started in the kitchen of one apartment and then spread to a second apartment, causing fire, smoke and water damage. Two other apartments sustained smoke damage, he said. Utilities were also shut off in the building.

Our #AlleghenyCounty Disaster Action Team is on site at the 100 block of George Street in Mc Kees Rocks to assist 8 families totaling 15 people affected by this afternoon's multi-family fire.

— American Red Cross Greater PA (@RedCrossGPA) September 17, 2020

Black smoke billowed from the roof of the building, smoke stains surrounding broken out windows, photos on the department’s Facebook page show. Tribune-Review news partners WPXI-TV said the smoke reached the McKees Rocks Bridge. The fire caused a large hole to form in the roof where two glass atriums collapsed.

According to the fire department, crews worked for about two hours to get the fire under control. Two firefighters received minor injuries in the blaze, but have since been released from the hospital. An update on their condition was not immediately available. None of the evacuees were injured in the incident.

According to the firefighter, the apartments are not a complete loss.

Crews are investigating the cause of the fire.