Harrison family displaced by fire; kids' fears of trapped mom unfounded

As fire engulfed their Fourth Street house Friday, Antoine and Alyssa McDaniel of Harrison thought their mother was trapped in her bedroom.

“We were freaking out and screaming,” said Alyssa McDaniel, 20. “But we couldn’t go in her bedroom. It was all in flames.”

It turns out their mother, Dana McDaniel, had left a few minutes earlier to pick up her husband, who was done with work in Harmar.

All members of the McDaniel family escaped the fire, which started about 8:20 p.m.

“They thought I was dead in there,” said Dana McDaniel, 43, who has lived in the house for about seven years.

Heavy flames could be seen coming from the first floor and attic of the one-story, split-level house.

“The roof and attic of the structure were on fire before the first pumper units got here,” Hilltop Hose Fire Chief Mike Krzeminski said. “Crews performed very well. It was a hot fire. There was a lot of fire on the front of this building. They did exactly what we trained to do.”

No injuries and no problems with water were reported despite a hydrant at Fourth and Main streets being out of service.

“It was a known issue,” Krzeminski said.“I had them hit the hydrants on Third Street and Main (Street) and Third and Montana (Avenue). We had water in plenty of time.”

Dana McDaniel said her sister-in-law heard about the fire on a police radio scanner and immediately called her to ask if she was all right. McDaniel, knowing that her kids were home, immediately tried calling them from her car. They didn’t answer.

“Talk about a mother’s worst nightmare: Thinking your kids are in a house that’s on fire,” she said. “I don’t even know how I turned around to go back to the house.”

Alyssa McDaniel said she had been in her bedroom when she smelled smoke. When she went to ask her mom what was going on, she saw her mother’s bedroom on fire.

Her brother had smelled the smoke, too, and both ran out on the street.

“We were screaming, ‘Help us! Help us!’ ” Alyssa McDaniel said.

They embraced her mother when she finally arrived at the scene.

All Harrison companies, as well as firefighters from Tarentum and Brackenridge, responded to the call.

Krzeminski said the home sustained extensive damage. He did not want to speculate on what caused the fire.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating. Crews began clearing the scene around 9:30 p.m.