Chris Delsignore could only stand by and watch as his childhood home was engulfed in flames.
“There’s nothing really to say. I mean, everything is gone,” he said. “I just basically stood here and watched my inheritance burn to the ground. Everything my dad worked for his whole life — gone.”
The blaze at a home along Pierson Run Road in Plum started around 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to Delsignore, 29, who grew up in the home but now lives elsewhere in the borough.
He said his father, Augustus “Butch” Delsignore, 68, and a younger brother were living in the home. Both escaped the blaze without injury. The elder Delsignore is a retired Plum Borough employee.
Delsignore said several pets were unaccounted for after the fire but offered no specifics.
Glenn Kopec Jr., assistant chief of Unity Fire Department, said the dispatch call for the fire came in shortly after 10 a.m. He said he believes one dog did not make it but is not aware of the status of any other pets.
“There’s only been some minor checkups for heat and some smoke inhalation,” he said of the people affected. “No (hospital) transportation or serious injuries.”
Pierson Run is a rural road that cuts through Boyce Park in several areas. Kopec had no information on what caused the blaze, saying Allegheny County Fire Marshals are investigating and will make that determination.
On the scene, Kopec said firefighters heard some ammunition in the house explode.
“I do know that there was some ammunition in the house that was going off … we heard some of them,” he said. “Ammunition, as long as it’s not in the gun, won’t really do anything because of how a firearm works. It’s directional — you need the barrel to actually propel the bullet, otherwise the casings just go off like a little firecracker.”
Kopec said fire crews encountered two main issues during the process: Plum is “a limited hydrant area,” referring to fire hydrant availability to get water to spray on the house. Because of that, tankers had to be utilized.
“What they do is is they come in they set up these dump tanks,” he said, referring to two pools of water set up on the road in front of the house. “They dump their tank water into there — that way they can leave and go get more.”
The hoses then use the water from the dump tanks to fight the fire, Kopec said, and there’s a system so the tankers deliver more water at different times so no one is “waiting for water.”
“They all keep moving,” he said.
Tankers can carry between 1,500-3,000 gallons, which is more water than what’s on a typical fire engine at 500-1,000 gallons, according to Kopec.
The other issue was that it was a daylight fire, Kope said.
“Volunteers are scarce during the day because they have jobs,” he said.
A demolition crew used machinery to knock down part of the home’s metal roof and wood structure so fire crews could more safely finish extinguishing the flames, according to Kopec.
“Because of the severe damage of the house, if we would just leave and go home, we’d be back later on this afternoon or this evening just because we can’t get in there and get all the spots,” he said. “So, we have the excavator to then remove the house from on top of itself so we can actually get in there and make sure it’s out before we leave.”
Crews were still on scene after 1 p.m. spraying foam onto the fire rather than water.
“We’re in overhaul operations, going around checking for those hot spots and making sure they’re all out,” Kopec said.
Foam is like a detergent, he said.
“Think of it as a super fancy Dawn dish soap,” Kopec said. “It breaks the surface tension of the water and actually allows the water to penetrate wood and other things better.
“Once we put foam on, we don’t want to put the water on because it just washes the foam away.”
Fire companies involved included Unity, Renton, Holiday Park, Monroeville, North Bessemer, Penn Hills, Sardis and Upper Burrell, he said.
Kopec said crews would remain on the scene depending on how long it takes to excavate the house, and they “don’t want to rush.”
