Man rescued from East Deer blaze when passerby springs into action

Danny Simone was driving to work through East Deer early Friday when he noticed a ball of white smoke billowing above a row of homes.

“I thought it was from the mill stack. That’s how high it was,” said Simone, an employee at Habitat for Humanity in New Kensington.

As he approached a house in the 200 block of Freeport Road, Simone realized the back of the building was on fire.

“You see smoke like that and you do something,” he said. “My adrenaline was going. I pulled over and kicked that front door in.”

An unidentified man was rescued thanks to Simone’s actions, officials at the scene said. No one else was home at the time.

Multiple emergency crews flooded Freeport Road to battle the fire, which appeared to be contained to the rear of the building.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is handling the investigation. No information is available yet on a cause of the fire, said Kasey Reigner, public information officer for the county’s department of emergency services.

Heavy smoke poured from the brick home as flames extended from the back porch.

At least a dozen departments responded to the call, which came in about 10:25 a.m. Among them were East Deer, Frazer, Eureka Hose, New Kensington, Summit Hose, Highland Hose, Springdale, Pioneer Hose, Rural Ridge, Citizens Hose, Arnold and Allegheny Valley.

Neighbor Joe Moxie watched the efforts from his sidewalk. He was alerted to the fire thanks to several people who were yelling from the street.

“They were out there hollering, and I was just worried about my buddy who lives on the other side because the houses are so close,” Moxie said.

Another neighbor said he was enjoying a cup of coffee in his kitchen and heard the commotion but figured it was noise from a passing train.

“There’s a woman that lives there, but she wasn’t home,” Moxie said. “I’m just glad everyone got out safe.”