Fire destroys Avalon home, damages others
JULIA MARUCA | Friday, May 10, 2024 7:24 a.m.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Rob Ensminger, Avalon firefighter, hands a framed American flag to Lauretta Brandon. Ensminger retrieved the flag from inside Brandon’s home, which was damaged by the fire Friday morning.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Fire crews responded to a fire that destroyed one home and badly damaged several others on McKinley Ave in Avalon on Friday morning, May 10, 2024.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Fire crews responded to a fire that destroyed one home and badly damaged several others on McKinley Ave in Avalon on Friday morning, May 10, 2024.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Fire crews responded to a fire that destroyed one home and badly damaged several others on McKinley Ave in Avalon on Friday morning, May 10, 2024.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Fire crews responded to a fire that destroyed one home and badly damaged several others on McKinley Ave in Avalon on Friday morning, May 10, 2024.
JULIA MARCURA | TRIBLIVE
Fire crews responded to a fire that destroyed one home and badly damaged several others on McKinley Ave in Avalon on Friday morning, May 10, 2024.
TribLIVE’s Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
A fire destroyed one home and badly damaged several others Friday morning in Avalon.
“It was a very hard fire,” said Avalon Volunteer Fire Company Chief Dave Meyer.
The blaze was reported about 5:30 a.m. in the 200 block of McKinley Avenue.
A lack of water pressure presented a challenge, Meyer said.
The nearest fire hydrant was close by, he said, but using one hydrant takes water from the others.
Avalon Police Department Chief Tom Kokoski said police officer injured his hand while breaking a window to get inside the house. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
A cause of the fire is not yet known, but the Allegheny County fire marshal was investigating.
Lauretta Brandon, who is in her 90s, lives alone in the house next door to the home that burned. The left side of her house was badly damaged by the fire, and she had to evacuate.
“Somebody was ringing the doorbell, and I came down in my nightclothes,” she said “He said, ‘Come on, you’ve got to get out of the house, next door is on fire!’”
She grabbed a jacket and ran out of the house in her bare feet. A neighbor provided her with some socks and a blanket, and a firefighter brought out her husband’s framed folded American flag, which had been on the mantle in her home.
“They’re very, very good neighbors for an old, old lady,” she said.
Stephanie Bearse, who lives down the street, said she and her neighbors were alerted when they heard crackling sounds from the fire.
“When I looked out on the porch, I saw sparks. I thought it was a transformer or something,” she said. “Then I saw the trucks.”
Athena McMonagle, who has lived in the house on the corner of McKinley Avenue for 46 years, said she’s never seen anything like this on her street before.
The home that burned had been sold within the last year, she said.
McMonagle heard fire trucks and hurried outside to see what was going on.
“I didn’t see anything at first, and then when I walked out farther, I could see flames shooting out among the trees,” she said.
She described the scene as frightening.
“I couldn’t tell which house it was,” McMonagle said.
Julia Maruca is a TribLive reporter covering health and the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She joined the Trib in 2022 after working at the Butler Eagle covering southwestern Butler County. She can be reached at jmaruca@triblive.com.
