White Oak House Fire Leaves 2 Dead
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WHITE OAK (KDKA) – Two people were found dead after a fire broke out at a home in White Oak Thursday morning.
According to officials at the scene, the fire broke out in the 3000 block of State Street around 3:30 a.m.
A man delivering newspapers saw flames coming from the front of the home. He got out of his truck and banged on the side of the house until the intense flames forced him back.
"You could see the flames coming out of the window and stuff. I tried to pound on the house and couldn't get in or anything because it was just too engulfed. It was a matter of minutes, it was engulfed," Dave Trunzo said.
KDKA's Lisa Washington Reports:
Neighbors also tried to alert the two people, a military veteran and his wife, who were inside.
"Another neighbor and I ran around to the side of the house, tried kicking in the side door, yelling for the people, couldn't find nobody, didn't hear nobody...The flames started getting more and more, so we had to back off," Bob Bone said.
The two victims were found dead on the first floor of the home. Their names have not been released at this time.
"I'm sure he tried to get her out. If he could of he would of," said Marcella Markham, of her neighbor.
"I've been here 17 years; they were really good neighbors to me. They treated me good. We talked all the time," said Tom Snyir, a neighbor to the couple.
White Oak Volunteer Fire Department Chief Steven Staniech said neighbors told them the woman who lived in the home had some mobility concerns.
"They did explain that one had a mobility issue and they were both older," Chief Staniech said.
Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control around 6 a.m. Due to the frigid temperatures, icicles quickly formed on the house where firefighters had been spraying water.
The fire chief said the cold weather wasn't a big concern.
"In general, the cold doesn't really affect too much of the operations other than where the water runoff is going to go," Chief Staniech said. "The Port Authority - they provide a bus to have everybody to go inside and warm, the Salvation Army and our EMS and Murrysville as far as their response team goes."
The cause of the fire is unknown.
