PITTSBURGH — While much of the city is sleeping, Pittsburgh firefighters have been hard at work. A familiar scene has played out over the last few weeks, one the fire union warned us about in September. Union leaders said the department was bracing to respond to more house fires as the weather got colder, a trend they deal with each year across the city.
At least four times in the past month, firefighters responded to house fires at abandoned homes in Homewood.
In late October, a home on Monticello Street caught fire. Investigators suspect squatters had been inside the home. A firefighter was injured during the effort to put out the flames.
Two weeks ago, part of the second floor collapsed as firefighters fought a fire on Madiera Street. There were also signs of squatting in that abandoned home.
This past Friday night, firefighters answered back-to-back calls at vacant homes in Homewood, one on Race Street and one on Idlewild Street. At the second one, a three-alarm fire, falling debris knocked a firefighter off a ladder. He fell backward, landing on the porch below him. As of Saturday, the firefighter was stable but remained hospitalized.
>>> Firefighters battle 2 house fires in Homewood within hours of one another
“Vacant structures are always a concern for us,” said Tim Leech, vice president of Pittsburgh Firefighters Local No. 1, the city’s firefighters union. “They’re always a hazard, a fire hazard and a safety hazard, when it comes to firefighters.
Leech is a full-time firefighter and works out of the firehouse in Homewood. He responded to the home on Monticello Street the night a firefighter was injured.
“It was obvious the house had been vacant for a while. Things were falling apart. There was a lot of trash inside the building,” Leech said.
He said that, accompanied with the unknown, is part of what makes fighting fires at abandoned or condemned buildings more dangerous. Firefighters have no way of knowing how unsafe the structure is or if the floors or stairs could pose a safety risk for them.
11 Investigates has spent months investigating Pittsburgh’s problems with vacant buildings. In his state of the city address, Mayor Ed Gainey called abandoned properties a “drain on the growth and vitality of the neighborhoods they occupy” and “chronic threats to public health and safety.”
11 Investigates previously reported that city records show there are currently more than 1,800 condemned properties in the City of Pittsburgh.
When you add dead-end properties, ones the city cannot find an owner for, city data shows the total number is more than 4,100 properties.
>>> Concerns of squatting, arson and collapse as vacant buildings deteriorate in Pittsburgh
The Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections is supposed to keep tabs on these kinds of properties and direct which ones get the funding to be torn down and when. Unsafe properties are supposed to be prioritized.
The city budgeted for between 100 and 120 demolitions in 2024. But, as of September, PLI had only permitted six demolitions. In a sit-down interview in August, investigative reporter Jatara McGee asked PLI Director Dave Green if the department would be able to come anywhere near its goal of 100+ demolitions by the end of 2024.
“I hope that we would be able to demolish somewhere between 50 to 75 by the end of the year or at least have them awarded and in process,” Green said.
As the end of the year approaches, 11 Investigates asked the city for an update. A spokesperson sent a list of permitted demolitions, showing PLI has approved 20 demolitions, with one month still to go in the year. That number is more than double what we reported in early September but still significantly below the city’s expectations for 2024. That said, there are signs of progress.
In June, 11 Investigates reported on a partially collapsed duplex in Manchester. It was next door to the Testa Family. The homes were arms-length apart.
>>> Pittsburgh couple waits in fear as city-owned duplex collapses next door
McGee pressed director Green about when that duplex would be torn down and why city inspectors had failed to give either part of the duplex a 4-rating, meaning “imminently dangerous.” One side of the duplex was missing a back wall, and collapsing ceilings and floors were visible from the outside of the building.
“We’re trying to balance a lot of different things and make complex decisions,” Green said. “We don’t have the funding to demolish all of the structures that have safety concerns.”
Green would not say if the city would tear the property down, but that is exactly what happened late October. Our cameras were there as demolition crews roped off the area and got to work, a huge relief for the homeowners next door.
Meanwhile, the home on Madiera Street, that was destroyed by fire, will be demolished by the city due to the unsafe conditions. It has already been approved to be torn down. Taxpayers paid to extinguish the fire, and now they will pay for the demolition too. There is no word yet if the city will demolish the homes on Race Street or Idlewild Street.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2024 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
