BRADDOCK, Pa. — First responders spent hours battling a fire that destroyed adjoining buildings in Braddock on Monday.
Allegheny County 911 dispatchers say police, fire and EMS were sent to a building on the 600 block of Braddock Avenue at 11:37 a.m. It was declared a three-alarm fire, with at least 17 departments on scene.
The building’s roof partially collapsed in the fire.
Officials told Channel 11 there were big plans for the property in the future.
“It was a place of hope because we knew what was to come. We were like, ‘Oh we know it needs a new roof,’ and now it needs more than a new roof,” said Chardae Jones, former mayor of Braddock and a current councilwoman.
The building was supposed to become a mixed-use property with retail space and affordable housing. Those plans are now in limbo.
“This is just an example of how everything can be gone in an instant,” Jones said.
Robert Ketchum works for the property owner. He told Channel 11 it once housed a drug store and women’s hat boutique in the early 1900s. He said it later became a dry cleaning business and recently qualified to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It is sad. It’s just another tooth missing on Braddock Ave in an entire row of buildings of this nature and this age,” Ketchum said.
While the buildings were supposed to be vacant, Ketcham said the owner did have some issues keeping people out, so they did their best to board them up.
“We were probably going to have to demolish it because the costs were getting just too high to try to save it, and a new building would have been cheaper in the long run, so it kind of forces our hand now,” Ketcham said.
The fire remains under investigation.
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