4 firefighters injured in explosion during fire at Penn Hills plaza
Firefighters remained at the scene of a fire at a shopping plaza on Frankstown Road in Penn Hills on Monday morning.
The fire that started around 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Churchill Center Plaza was continuing to reignite before dawn Monday; Frankstown Road was closed in the area of Coal Hollow and Beulah roads.
Four firefighters were hurt when natural gas triggered an explosion, Penn Hills fire Marshal Chuck Miller said. How badly they were hurt was not known Sunday night.
A fifth firefighter was taken to a hospital for severe heat exhaustion while a dozen other firefighters were treated at the scene for heat exhaustion and related conditions, Miller said.
Miller would not name the injured firefighters nor their companies. Volunteer departments on scene included Penn Hills, Verona, Edgewood, Oakmont, Forest Hills, Monroeville, Churchill among others.
Fire is still burning and part of the building has collapsed #PennHillsFire. pic.twitter.com/phLrPDUpfI
— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) July 29, 2019
The fire started around 7:30 p.m. at Big Shot Bob’s House of Wings, then spread through Churchill Center, a shopping plaza at at 10608 Frankstown Road and 105 Pennoak Drive in Penn Hills.
At 11 p.m., People’s Gas crews were excavating at the plaza near Frankstown Road to reach the gas lines.
The fire burned for several hours and into the night with flames visible at about 10:30 at Cefola’s Cleaners. Other businesses in the shopping center include Eagle Rental and Don Services.
Miller believes that the fire started between the cleaners and Eagle Rental.
A gas leak could have led to the explosion and collapse of a back wall of one of the plaza buildings that injured the firefighters, according to Miller.
View from the back, flames just shooting up and you can see where the building collapsed. #wpxi pic.twitter.com/E7Ak3wpFRD
— Jamie Cashdollar (@Cashmoney2292) July 29, 2019
Salvation Army emergency services provided beverages to first responders.
The parking lot of the CVS pharmacy across the street from Churchill Center Plaza was filled with emergency vehicles.
All of the major roads near the shopping plaza were closed throughout Sunday evening, including Frankstown Road in both directions and sections of Beulah and Coal Hollow roads.
This fire continues to spread. The heat is unbelievable. @WPXI pic.twitter.com/34WhTkh857
— Amy Hudak (@amy_hudak) July 29, 2019
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