Demolition crew finds man's body in burned-out Sheraden building
Crews tearing down a fire-damaged building in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood Sunday afternoon found a man’s body inside.
The fire started just after midnight Saturday in the building in the 700 block of Hillsboro Street. Fire crews arrived to find flames coming from the second floor.
The building is a commercial property adapted for residential use, Pittsburgh Public Safety spokeswoman Eliza Durham said.
As they worked to put the blaze out, part of the building collapsed, with the roof and third floor falling into the second floor, according to Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire officials.
The fire rekindled twice, at 4:45 a.m. and 7:20 a.m. Saturday.
A man who was believed to have been inside of the building was initially unaccounted for. Police used drones to search for him, but did not find him.
The city’s Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections awarded a contract for the emergency demolition of the building. Recovery efforts started at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The man’s body was found around 2:45 p.m., Durham said.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner will release the man’s name and determine the cause and manner of his death, she said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.