Neighbor awakens Unity resident as fire sweeps through house

A Unity Township man awakened his neighbor in the East High Acres area early Saturday morning to a devastating fire that was sweeping through his house, a fire official said.

The neighbor saw the house at 1038 Valley View Drive ablaze at about 4:10 a.m. Saturday and went to the burning structure to awaken the resident, who safely fled the burning structure with two dogs, said Lloydsville Fire Chief Brian Schultheis.

The man residing at the house may not have been aware of the fire because it traveled up into the roof, before the roof collapsed into the house, Schultheis said.

The house is owned by Gregory Cammerata, according to the Westmoreland County tax map.

The Valley View Drive house was ablaze when firefighters arrived at the scene. Firefighters attempted to fight the fire from inside before the ceiling started to collapse on them, Schultheis said. Firefighters were ordered to evacuate and fought the fire from outside, Schultheis said.

Schultheis said that firefighters were able to draw water from a nearby hydrant, but also used tanker trucks to fight the blaze.

Two Lloydsville firefighters suffered minor injuries, Shultheis said. One person suffered a minor cut and another was injured when part of the ceiling collapsed. Both were treated at the scene, Schultheis said.

A state police fire marshal in Greensburg is investigating the fire’s cause, Schultheis said.

Lloydsville firefighters were assisted by other Unity fire departments and units from Latrobe, Bovard, Greensburg, Luxor and Youngstown.

The Lloydsville firefighters had been involved in fighting the fire at the Greensburg public works building and were home for only about an hour when the alarm sounded, Schultheis said.

Firefighters did not leave the East High Acres scene until about 9:30 a.m., Schultheis said.