Officer hurt, 3 homes damaged in Avalon fire
A 95-year-old woman was rescued after a brave police officer kicked down a door and rescued her from a burning house in Avalon.
According to Allegheny County 911, a call came in around 5:20 a.m. for a report of a structure fire in the 200 block of McKinley Avenue.
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Avalon Police Chief Tom Kokoski said the officer was taken to a hospital after the rescue but has since been released. He will be on medical leave for at least a month because of injuries to his hand.
“He had to get treated. Whether that is stitches or not, but he did a really good job, he got my mom out of the house,” said the woman‘s son Darryl Brandon.
Brandon lives next door. He said the flames were so intense that they spread to homes on both sides, including his.
He said the first words he heard from an officer who called him about the fire were, “Your mom is okay.”
“There’s panes of glass on either side of the front window. He broke that window to reach in and try to open it, it’s an older door. He basically kicked it in,” said Brandon.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating the fire that completely destroyed the home. Local leaders say a man bought it less than a year ago and was on vacation this morning when they called to tell him his home burned down.
The other two houses have serious damage, but no one else was hurt.
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