1 hurt in Derry Township blaze that destroyed home

A Derry Township man was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital for treatment of burns after escaping a house fire early Thursday, according to Bradenville Fire Chief Mark Piantine.

Firefighters were called to the home near the intersection of Pizza Barn Road and Toms Lane at 2:40 a.m, according to Westmoreland 911. Piantine said the A-frame home with large windows was fully engulfed in flames when crews got there.

“It’s completely destroyed,” he said.

It took firefighters more than an hour to get the flames under control while they contended with icy conditions. The home was set back a long driveway off the main road and crews laid an additional 1,700 feet of hose to reach the nearest fire hydrant, Piantine said.

Firefighters from departments in Westmoreland and Indiana counties were able to keep the flames from spreading to a nearby five-car garage that housed antique automobiles and a 100-gallon gas tank, he said. The injured man and another person there at the time were able to escape before firefighters arrived. They were going to stay with relatives.

A state police fire marshal is investigating.

“It started someplace in the back side of the house,” Piantine said.

Once fire crews were ready to leave the scene, they were met with another challenge — an impassable road encased in ice as a result of the water used to fight the flames. Township and PennDOT crews gave them a hand with some anti-skid material, he said. They cleared the scene at 6 a.m.

Pizza Barn Road, near the intersection of Route 982 and just north of New Derry, was closed for a time as crews worked at the scene.