Girl in critical condition after house fire in Westmoreland County

HARRISON CITY, Pa. — A young girl was flown to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh in critical condition after a fire at her home on Timber Ridge Court early Monday afternoon.

Harrison City Assistant Fire Chief Tom Lamacz said the fire started on the back deck of the home.

“Upon arrival, we had heavy fire in the back of the structure and it moved to the interior,” Lamacz said.

Leigh Santo, who lives across the street, was working when the fire started. A loud boom made her look up from her desk and out the window.

“It was just a loud boom. We were like, ‘what the heck was that?’” Santo said. “I got up to look out the window to see what was happening and I saw the fire on the right side of the house and I picked up my phone and called 911.”

She described the moments after she heard that boom.

“When it blew up, there was black smoke immediately, and things flying everywhere, things from the roof or the house,” Santo said. “Things just coming this way, and then all of the sudden, I had a white out. It was just white smoke and I couldn’t even see anything, even my own front yard.”

Ed Grant, the Director of the Penn Township Ambulance Association, told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek that a little girl was inside at the time and was treated on scene by paramedics and then flown to Children’s Hospital in critical condition.

“They found her about 20 minutes after, I saw them bringing her out 20 minutes later,” Santo said.

Firefighters from several departments around Harrison City responded to the fire.

“We had a great response, with a daytime call, it’s always bad because there’s limited manpower, that’s why there’s so many companies here just to try to put this out,”  Lamacz said. “A great thanks to all those surrounding companies who came to help us today.”

Santo said two neighbors grabbed leashes for the two family dogs and got them out of the house. Crews resuscitated one of the dogs and said it is doing okay.

Santo hopes the young girl is okay, and said she and other neighbors are willing to help any way they can.

“I’m so sorry,” Santo said. “If there’s anything we can do to help you, [we will help]. I hope she’s okay.”

The State Police Fire Marshal is investigating what caused the fire.  

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2025 Cox Media Group