Dormont house fire kills 1, injures 4

Cause of the blaze remains under investigation

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Before dawn on Saturday, Michelle Blake’s husband, Calvin, suddenly awoke to see flames coming from their neighbor’s house on Peermont Avenue in Dormont.

“He woke me up,” said Ms. Blake. “It looked like the apocalypse.”

Officials are investigating the cause of the house fire that killed one adult and injured two civilians and two firefighters. No information has been released on the identity of the deceased.

The injured were taken to UPMC Mercy, according to Mat Davis, chief of the Dormont Volunteer Fire Department.

The blaze, which started just before 4 a.m. at 1137 Peermont Ave., was contained to the home, but the houses on either side suffered smoke and water damage. Eight fire companies responded to the fire, Chief Davis said.

The identities of the residents at the single-family home have not been confirmed. The house at 1137 Peermont is owned by Michael and Denise Pirollo of Penn Hills, according to Allegheny County real estate records. The home is listed as a two-story masonry and frame house built in 1920.

Ms. Blake said she and her husband “ran out to find the neighbor trying to get the kids out. He was running around in his bare feet.”

Next door, Kathie and Seth Knorr and their son, Dylan, also woke up and saw the fire. Like the Blakes, they called 911.

“I heard [the neighbor] running back and forth, screaming for his son,” Ms. Knorr said. She said the man and two children escaped the fire.

Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs indicated in a statement that those affected were family members. Two of the