No one was hurt in a fire Tuesday that destroyed a house in Plum.
The fire at 435 Millers Lane was reported at 4:40 p.m., according to an Allegheny County 911 dispatcher.
Tim Townsend and his fiancee, Christine Biros, own the one-story home and live there with his adult son, Tim Townsend Jr. They were not home when the fire started. No pets were inside.
Tim Townsend said he discovered the fire when he came home from work and opened a door at the back porch to go inside.
“I couldn’t go in,” he said. “It was all black smoke coming out.”
Renton fire Chief Carey Cole said the fire started in the basement, traveled up the walls and burned through the first floor, which collapsed.
It took firefighters from Plum, Penn Hills, Monroeville and Murrysville about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control.
The house is a total loss, Cole said.
“You can’t go in the front door,” he said. “There’s a hole.”
Cole said the cause is believed to be electrical. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating.
Townsend has owned the house since 2009, and Biros said she’s been there since 2014. They had made many improvements to the house, and Biros said they had just paid off the mortgage.
Townsend said they had insurance, and he was expecting a representative to come Wednesday. He said he and Biros most likely would stay with family, while his son was going to a friend’s place.
He didn’t yet know if they would be able to salvage anything from the house.
“I’ve never had this happen. I don’t know what to do,” he said. “Nobody got hurt. That’s the important thing.”
