Wallace Structure Fire

A commercial structure fire occurred on November 30 at a building located on Wallace Road. The fire was reported at approximately 10:30 am. Crews arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the building, and a fire started coming from a portion of the roof shortly after arrival. A second alarm was added early in the incident to bring additional companies to the scene. Third and fourth alarms were eventually called to give firefighters on the first two alarms a chance to rest. The fire was brought under control at approximately 11:55 am, and companies were on scene with overhaul, salvage and investigation assistance duties until 6:13 pm. There were no civilian injuries. A few minor injuries were reported by firefighters at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office. This was the first major commercial fire loss in the Township of Pine since 1998 when Denny’s restaurant on Perry Highway burned.

This was the first call for our new tower ladder truck. It had just been put into service on November 27, and some members were going through a driver training course for the truck when the call came in. It functioned extremely well as crews needed it as a safe work platform to remove metal roof and wall panels to access the fire. The elevated water nozzle on the basket was also used extensively to extinguish areas of heavy fire in the building.

We would like to thank the following local fire companies that provided assistance with this fire: Adams Area, Bradford Woods, Berkley Hills, Cranberry, Franklin Park, Hampton, Harmony, Highland, Ingomar, Marshall, North Hampton, Peebles, Richland, West Deer #3, and Undercliff. Also, thanks to the Salvation Army for providing food and numerous other fire companies that provided coverage to the area for companies that worked the fire.