Officials identify 4-year-old killed in Elizabeth Township fire
A child was killed following a house fire early Monday morning in Elizabeth Township.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victim as Zyaire Akins, 4. He was located in a bedroom and taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital, where he died, according to authorities.
The fire broke out just after 12:30 a.m. at a home in the 1900 block of Parkvue Street.
Elizabeth Township Fire Department chief Adam Janosko told TribLive news partner WTAE that hoarding conditions affected firefighters’ ability to get to the child.
“The interior condition of the house, beyond the amount of fire that was observed and encountered, was basically hoarding conditions and made traversing inside to get to the juvenile pretty difficult,” Janosko said.
A woman who lived in the home was able to escape through a second-floor window.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.