Five people were left homeless Thursday afternoon when fire heavily damaged a duplex on Main Street in Leechburg.
Leechburg Fire Chief Tom Foster said the fire was reported around 5:48 p.m. at 135 Main St.
Foster said two cats remained unaccounted for.
The fire erupted from the second floor of the three-story, brick duplex.
Foster said one person lives in one half of the duplex while four people live on the other side.
Only one person was at home at the time and they escaped unharmed, the chief said.
The duplex appeared heavily scorched by flames and smoke around 7 p.m. as crews were wrapping up.
On scene at a house fire on Main Street in Leechburg. @VNDNews @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/rdU74C3unK
— Joyce Hanz (@hanz_joyce) September 22, 2022
Neighbor Joyce Webb was inside her home and heard a loud bang.
“It sounded like a transformer going off,” Webb said. “I ran and looked from the window and saw smoke outside.”
Webb said fire crews arrived on scene quickly and began banging on her door and asked her to leave her home.
“I was worried for them,” Webb said of the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by a state police fire marshal.
Fire crews from Gilpin, West Leechburg, Parks Township, Hyde Park and Allegheny Township assisted.
