Fire breaks out at Pittsburgh's Arts Festival, injuring worker
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A propane tank started a fire at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Arts Festival on Friday, sending a man to the hospital.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said the fire happened at a food tent at Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Eighth Street. A 28-year-old employee was taken to the hospital with second-degree burns in serious but stable condition, officials said.
"The propane cylinder that was involved may have been over-pressurized. That's the preliminary reports that we're getting. Therefore, when it was exposed to the heat, it caught fire," said Bernard Mohan, the deputy chief of operations for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.
It's an isolated incident, and officials said the Arts Festival is still going on. Parts of the festival were shut down, but Public Safety said all booths except for the food court are back open.
"So we came down and we had already just ate maybe 20 minutes before, so we were going to get my son a tattoo, which was right across the street, and we heard like a sizzling noise then you just hear 'boom' and then all the fire, flames, start coming out and they started getting bigger cause everyone just kind of froze, and then everyone started screaming and running down the road," said witness Alex Troilo.
"I was behind the tent. I heard a steam whistle kind of sound, and smoke billowing out of the tent, and all of a sudden, it burst into flames," said witness Nick Korb. "I was just surprised and a little scared."
"Terrible, worried, and I couldn't believe they had evacuated everybody, and things had changed so quickly," witness Danielle Yerkey said.
As for the 28-year-old man who was hurt, KDKA-TV has learned he is in stable condition and was alert and speaking at the hospital.
The Arts Festival kicked off on Friday. More than 400 artists and vendors are expected to draw around 300,000 people over the next 10 days. Pride celebrations also began on Friday, marking the start of a busy weekend in the city.
The bulk of the Arts Festival takes place in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, with many attractions on Fort Duquesne Boulevard. This year it is expanding onto the Rachel Carson Bridge.
The festival runs from May 31 to June 9 daily from noon until 9 p.m.
