Two Millvale firefighters were hurt and a resident was rescued through a window in a fire late Tuesday, Feb. 24, that caused significant damage to an apartment building on Grant Avenue.

The fire at Millvilla at the point of Grant and Stanton avenues was reported around 10:30 p.m., Millvale fire Chief James Tunstall said.

Eight of the 11 apartments in the three-story building were occupied. Tunstall did not know how many people in total lived there.

Firefighters were told that multiple people were possibly trapped, Tunstall said. The first firefighters and police officers to arrive found a woman at a second-floor window on the Stanton Avenue side of the building who was not able to get out through the building.

A Bauerstown firefighter used a ladder off Millvale’s engine to get the woman down, Tunstall said. She was checked by medics at the scene.

Firefighters and police helped other residents out using the stairs.

Flames were seen erupting from a second-floor window and from the roof of the building.

“It was challenging at first,” Tunstall said.

Two Millvale firefighters who were the first to go inside the building were hurt and treated at the scene. According to Tunstall, one suffered first-degree burns with some minor second-degree burns, while the other had smoke inhalation.

Tunstall did not identify them.

The fire started in an apartment on the second floor, Tunstall said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, said Kasey Reigner, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services.

The borough has condemned the building, which is uninhabitable after the fire, Tunstall said. There was fire damage to the second and third floors and water damage to the first floor. He did not know if it could be repaired.

Tunstall said many of the residents had family or other places to go. The American Red Cross was also helping tenants.

The Millvale Community Development Corp. was also offering assistance.

In addition to Millvale and Bauerstown, firefighters from Berkeley Hills, Etna, Seville, Southern Allegheny Valley, West View responded. They were on the scene until about 3 a.m.

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