'A humbling responsibility': Rustic Ridge's Greg Renko leads neighbors through tragedy

Aug. 13—Greg Renko bounced from one house to the next on Sunday, one neighbor to the next, one phone call to the next.

He consoled them. Answered their questions. Offered whatever insight he could provide, both as Rustic Ridge Estates Home Owners Association president and as an Allegheny County Police officer with the homicide unit.

From the second a neighbor's house on Rustic Ridge Drive exploded Saturday, Renko has been the one neighbor everyone wants to see.

From interaction to interaction, from shoulder pat to full embrace, Renko has a calming, comforting effect on his neighbors.

Home at the time of the explosion, Renko was the first authority figure on the scene Saturday. With the help of a neighbor and a Plum police officer, he helped pull victims to safety.

"I can't say enough about Greg," neighbor Liz Thompson said about Renko. "Him just taking leadership for the community and posting on our Facebook page anything he knows."

Jimmy Stecick, 52, recalled Renko yelling for him to get his family out of their home and neighborhood and then pulling someone from the debris.

"My neighbor, I'll tell you — he's impressive," Stecik said. "... I give him kudos."

On Sunday, after getting little to no sleep, Renko provided whatever solace he could to his neighbors.

"It was ... eerie is the best word," Renko said of sleeping in his home Saturday night, all utilities cut off to the neighborhood. "It was a ghost town. It looked like a war zone ghost town. It was eerily quiet, super dark. It had a somber feel to the air. It was a little creepy."

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It didn't help that a severe thunderstorm rolled through Saturday evening. Loud bursts of thunder kept the neighborhood on edge, he said.

"Every crack of thunder," he said.

He said he believes that will be the new normal.

"Until there are solid answers (about the cause of the explosion), good answers to put the residents at ease ... I think people will be on edge for a while," Renko said.

Residents in at least 12 homes are displaced, he said. Three homes are destroyed from the blast and subsequent fires that consumed the adjacent homes. Many more homes could be condemned.

Renko already is imagining the hole left in the neighborhood by the loss of life — five are confirmed dead — and property.

"It's going to be an immense loss and a reminder of the neighbors we lost," he said. "Not just neighbors, but friends."

Renko said he fears what will become of other homes as well.

"To look down and see the hole of homes that aren't going to be here," he said, "it's going to be a reminder every day."

And every day, Renko said, he'll be around. He knows the neighborhood is asking him for answers, looking to him to set the tone, relying on him for leadership.

"A humbling responsibility," he said. "No matter who was in this (HOA) post, anyone would step up in that role. ... I'm constantly proud to say I'm from Rustic Ridge but also from Plum.

"So many helped from around the borough, especially the Rustic Ridge neighborhood. To see the most tragic event, to see people run toward the tragedy ... they're not trained as first responders. These are teachers, doctors, everyday people who put their lives on the line to help neighbors."

Despite his willingness to put others above himself, Renko's home did suffer what he described as significant damage. Still, he and his wife have committed their home at 155 Rustic Ridge to being a drop-off point for donations. The house at 122 Rustic Ridge also will be a drop-off point after the neighborhood gets PODS delivered, said Renko's wife, Ashley.

The Renkos have three children — ages 9, 5 and 3. Ashley said the two youngest haven't really comprehended what is happening. But her oldest is traumatized, she said.

"He was up screaming, 'Mommy, Daddy, there's going to be a fire,' " she said.

As Ashley spoke, a tattoo with the word "resilience" — inked in her mother's handwriting — could be seen on the underside of her left forearm.

When asked about it, Ashley smiled.

"That's what my mom always said to me," she said.

It was a reference to Ashley's inner strength in the wake of personal hardships and loss.

"This is just going to be another thing to get back on your feet and get going," she said.

Ashley paused.

"I just got it done last week."

Rob Amen is a Tribune-Review managing editor. You can contact Rob by email at ramen@triblive.com or via Twitter .