A large, 4-alarm fire in Squirrel Hill is mostly under control after crews battled flames for six straight hours.
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones tells KDKA Radio, while the fire in largely under control, his crews will be on the scene for the foreseeable future putting out several hot spots.
“We’re going to send leave-crews here to monitor this, in case it flares up again, which it probably will,” said Dr. Jones.
Dr. Jones has also put in an emergency request for demolition of the building, which is already partially collapsed.
“After all the water that we dumped into it, it’s not stable,” said Jones.
Because fire crews are unable to enter the building due to possibility of collapse, hot spots cannot be dug out by hand. So, flames will continue to pop up.
The initial call came in at 8:25 a.m. Tuesday morning, with first crews arriving at 8:30 a.m.
Crews found flames on the third floor and immediately evacuated the building.
Everyone escaped the building safely and no injuries were reported.
Jones says an investigation is underway.