Teen Saves Child in 5-Alarm Fire that Hurt Pittsburgh FFs
Source Firehouse.com News
A 17-year-old boy helped rescue a teen from the roof of a burning house in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The five-alarm fire injured three firefighters.
The blaze broke out just after 11:30 a.m. in the city's Knoxville neighborhood, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Flames spread to nearby homes on both sides, including one house that was occupied.
The fire forced two people and a toddler in one home to the roof. As flames shot through the first and second floors, the two people were able to slide the child down the roof to a teen on the ground.
"I just took him and I had to grab him by his legs," Rayshawn Brown told the Post-Gazette. "I just did it. It wasn't nothing to think hard about."
After handing off the toddler to a cousin, Rayshawn then helped the two people escape the roof.
"It's not right to let people die. When I was younger growing up, and my grandma died, it was hard for me to lose people," he told the Post-Gazette.
Crews spent 1½ hours putting out the blaze. Several people were treated for smoke inhalation, and a police officer suffered an unknown injury trying to stop residents from returning to their homes.
Three firefighters also were injured during the incident. Two were taken to the hospital in stable condition, and another was treated at the scene, the Post-Gazette added.
