Community rallies following massive fire at Ross Township auto shop: "Any help that we can give."
ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - Sources tell KDKA three firefighters were hurt with minor injuries while responding to a fire at a well-known auto shop in Ross Township Wednesday night. The owner of the store and a resident are now picking up the pieces after losing everything, but the community is rallying behind them.
Feet away from Patti Fowler's Flowerama, the car repair shop that's sat on Babcock by Rochester for years and years is all charred up. Back in the day, it was known as Steff's, and for about the last 10 years as Tao's.
"It's been a staple in the North Hills for a long time," Fowler said. "We always have so many people come here browsing while they're getting their car fixed next door."
Around 7 p.m. the business went up in flames.
Suz Pisano was in a fitting with a bride in her design studio next door, and said thankfully, workers at the flower store alerted firefighters to check on them.
"Someone came up the steps and said, you have to get out, and we looked up and it was two firemen who said, the building next door is on fire," Pisano said.
Large plumes of smoke billowed from the building's roof for hours as crews worked to get the fire under control.
"It was really scary just watching the fire get bigger and bigger," Pisano said.
Sources tell KDKA three firefighters were hurt in the process, two suffering from burns and the third injuring an ankle.
Fowler and Pisano said fortunately, the man who lives in an apartment connected to Tao's wasn't home at the time and that their businesses were spared any damage.
"Nothing smells like smoke. It's a miracle," Pisano said.
However, they feel for the resident and the auto shop's owner, who is beloved in the community.
"Anytime someone asks for a local mechanic, his name pops up over and over and over," Pisano said.
As they said, the small businesses stick together and take care of each other, and that's exactly what they're going to keep on doing.
"Any help that we can give, we're definitely going to try to do that for them," Fowler said.
The cause remains under investigation by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office.
