West Deer police standoff ends with house fire

A man is in custody after holding police at bay in West Deer and setting his home on fire Wednesday, according to authorities.

Police had much of the 3500 block on Huntertown Road blocked off and fire crews were called to extinguish the smokey fire shortly after noon, according to an Allegheny County 911 supervisor.

Authorities said the incident began when police were called to the home to perform a welfare check on the resident, whose identity had not been released Wednesday afternoon.

Shortly after police arrived, the man barricaded himself inside his home, so the North Hills Special Response Team was dispatched.

Josh Wiegand, chief of West Deer Fire Company No. 3, said crews were placed on standby shortly after 1 p.m. for a man making threats, and less than 15 minutes later a fire broke out.

“The firefighters stayed back and prepared to fight the fire while police were trying to negotiate the guy out of the house,” he said.

Wiegand said the man fired a flare gun and threw a propane tank at police.

Heavy smoke could be seen billowing from the house as police surrounded the building and fire trucks arrived to begin dousing the flames. One police officer was treated at the scene for a minor injury.

Wiegand said that by 2:20 p.m. other departments were called to assist.

Firefighters deployed hoses behind neighboring houses while police tried to get the man out of the house. One firefighter suffered an ankle injury slipping in mud outside the house.

Wiegand said the fire started in the kitchen, and nearly half of the first floor was on fire before crews could knock it down.

Firefighters from several Indiana Township and Hampton departments were at the scene and on standby. Crews from Middlesex Township also were on standby.

At around 3 p.m. an ambulance carrying the homeowner left the scene, but there was no information about the nature of his injuries, if any.

Wiegand said firefighters had to deal with hoarding conditions and tore down the ceiling to chase the fire through the roof.

Firefighters were able to rescue a dog from the second floor.

The fire was under control around 3:20 p.m.

This is not the first time West Deer firefighters had to respond to the home in the housing plan.

Wiegand said they were called at least twice in the past three years for burning complaints. The man was burning a rug or a mattress in the backyard.

However, what took place Wednesday afternoon was a first for Wiegand.

“I’ve never had somebody follow through on it,” the chief said about the man burning his house down. “We’ve had people make threats, and usually we take a standby position and wait for police to neutralize the situation. But this guy lit the fire while in the house and still refused to come out.”

Firefighters began clearing the scene shortly after 5 p.m.