2 dogs die in Tarentum house fire, residents displaced
No injuries were reported in a fire that tore through a Tarentum home on Tuesday, but two dogs died.
Four dogs escaped, officials at the scene said.
The blaze, in the 900 block of Porter Street, was reported shortly after 11:30 a.m. and quickly was upgraded to a second alarm.
Firefighters arrive on scene at fire on Porter Street as smoke pours out of a house. @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/1rgMvdvpat
— Megan Trotter (@meganktrotter) September 16, 2025
Firefighters broke through windows to enter the second floor of the wood-frame home while other crews were working their way into the first floor. The fire appeared to be concentrated in the rear of the home.
One woman was home when the fire broke out, according to Tarentum police, but she escaped without injury. Her husband was not at home.
James Nickolaus, 70, who lives next door, said his neighbor banged on his door, telling him to call 911.
“She was running around,” he said of the woman who got out of the burning home. “She was trying to get the dogs under control.”
The wind was blowing away from his house, so it wasn’t damaged by the fire.
Tammy Brounce, 53, of Brackenridge, could see the flames while driving over the Tarentum Bridge to visit her sister.
“Came to make sure everyone was OK,” said Brounce, a retired firefighter and EMT from Eureka Hose in Tarentum. “I’m just glad she made it out.”
By 1 p.m. the fire had been put out, but firefighters were still on scene, cutting holes in the home’s roof to ventilate smoke.
Highland Hose Chief Tommy Silliman declined to comment on the fire Tuesday afternoon.
A deputy Allegheny County fire marshal responded to the scene after the fire had been extinguished.
The American Red Cross also arrived to provide support for the displaced, said Kasey Reigner, spokeswoman for Allegheny County Department of Emergency Services.
Reigner declined to comment on the cause of the fire as well as how much of the home had been damaged.
Fire crews returned to the house shortly before 3:30 p.m. to douse hot spots that had rekindled.
LIVE: A building is on fire on Porter Street in Tarentum @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/P5D3fZqNIH
— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) September 16, 2025
Megan Trotter is a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at mtrotter@triblive.com.
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