Crews tear down vacant Wilmerding home after deadly garbage truck crash

WILMERDING, Pa. (KDKA) - Crews tore down a vacant home in Wilmerding after a garbage truck driver crashed into it and died.

The driver, 47-year-old Dana Rodericks of Delmont, was trying to make a turn from Jefferson Street onto Patton around 4 a.m. Wednesday when the Big's Sanitation garbage truck tipped and struck two homes. 

The fire marshal called the damaged vacant home a "hazard." It was demolished Wednesday.

A family, including two children, lived in the other house, which may also have to be torn down. They weren't injured. 

The fire marshal said the crash severed a gas line, releasing a large amount of gas into the air. Residents had to evacuate but were later let back into their homes. 

Allegheny County police detectives and accident reconstructionists are investigating the crash.