Though not uncommon, hoarding 'multiplies' danger for fire crews

When New Kensington Fire Chief Ed Saliba responded Wednesday to a house fire on Richdale Drive, he said, he’d never seen so much packed into a structure in his more than 40 years as a firefighter.

“I’ve never seen anything like that — in that amount — before,” Saliba said.

When crews attempted to open the front door, they couldn’t move it more than 6 inches. They discovered a similar problem at the back door.

It was only after firefighters entered through a passage in the garage that Saliba said they could begin battling the blaze in a basement with no visibility and intense heat.

Bags, bottles, clothes and paper were scattered everywhere, he said.

“Trying to maneuver through that kind of stuff, it’s very possible that a firefighter could become disoriented,” Saliba said. “You’re basically going into the bowels of hell.”

Eventually, a second crew removed the home’s front door entirely and cleared debris to bring a fire hose into the house, Saliba said.

Into the basement, firefighters lowered a distributor nozzle, which blasts water at several angles at once, to quell the blaze, the chief said.

A woman who lived in the residence initially noticed the fire when she returned home from work, Saliba said. Fire crews arrived on scene within three minutes of the call to 911.

She was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, and emergency responders contacted Red Cross officials to help her.

Brian Kite, chief of East Huntingdon Volunteer Fire Company, said his crews encountered a similar, though not quite as dire situation, on Thursday.

A furnace malfunction at a home on Junior High Alley in the Alverton section of the township sent smoke, but no fire, throughout a home with severe hoarding conditions, Kite said.

When his crews entered the house, the chief said, they found only a small path between the front and back door and up the steps.

“It’s dangerous because you’ve got a lot of combustible materials in the house,” Kite said.

The lack of mobility in narrow pathways endangers occupants and firefighters, he said.

Still, Matt Austin, chief of Logans Ferry Heights Volunteer Fire Department in Plum, said hoarding situations are all too common.

Also present at the Wednesday afternoon fire in New Kensington, Austin said it was one among dozens he’s encountered over the years.

Sometimes hoarders maintain “goat paths” through their homes such as the one in East Huntingdon, but Austin said the Richdale Drive home had no such routes.

He said the house resembled a landfill with 2 to 3 feet of material blanketing the whole thing.

“It multiplies the danger in every way,” Austin said. “It takes more time; it takes more bodies; it takes more effort.”

Without any injuries, the fire in New Kensington went as well as it could have, he said.

Though his crews don’t perform specific drills for hoarding situations, Austin said they do incorporate hoarding into “tabletop” training discussions.

But Austin said he’s noticed hoarding houses across various communities at different income levels. To him, the phenomenon is psychological, not economic.

According to an overview from the Cleveland Clinic, hoarding disorder is a mental health condition on the obsessive compulsive disorder spectrum.

About 2% to 6% of people in the United States are affected by the disorder, according to the clinic.

Hoarding disorder is more likely to affect people 60 and older and those with other mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, the overview said.

According to the clinic, it is usually treated using cognitive behavioral therapy and antidepressant medications.

“People with hoarding disorder rarely seek help on their own. Concerned friends or family members often reach out to a professional to help a loved one with the condition,” the overview said.

A support group for those dealing with hoarding issues is held by the Hoarding Alliance of Westmoreland County.

The group meets at the Norwin Chamber of Commerce. To contact the support group, call 724-739-3785.