Woman taken to a hospital as crews fight house fire in New Kensington

NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — A woman was taken to a hospital as crews fought a house fire in New Kensington.

The New Kensington Fire Chief said that this house fire was unlike many that they fight because of the difficult hoarding conditions of the home and the weather.

“The hoarding conditions were bad. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen in my career here. It really set us back when trying to gain entry to the front door and the rear door,” said Chief Ed Saliba Jr. with the New Kensington Volunteer Fire Department.

The home on Richdale drive is now a total loss after a fire ripped through the house Wednesday night. Chief Saliba said crews arrived within 3 minutes of the homeowner’s call, but the flames got worse once they started fighting the flames.

“Once the fire department came and we started opening up to try and get to the seed of the fire,” said Chief Saliba. “We induced oxygen, which moved the fire back up into a burning stage.”

The house did not have working smoke detectors, according to Chief Saliba. He said the homeowner and her dog were lucky this did not happen in the middle of the night and were able to escape their home.

“I would say it’s definitely accidental,” said Chief Saliba. “We are leaning towards electrical. The Pennsylvania State Fire Marshal was contacted last night and is conducting their investigation.

Volunteer fire departments from New Kensington, Lower Burrell, Arnold, Plum, and Tarentum helped battle the blaze.

New Kensington firefighters said they received a call from the woman who lives inside the house. She noticed smoke coming from the garage and slipped and injured herself while trying to get out. She was taken to a hospital.

A dog was in the house, but firefighters have yet to find it.

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