30 homes evacuated due to fire at Castle Shannon

Thirty homes were evacuated due to a fire in Castle Shannon on Wednesday.

Allegheny County Emergency Services said emergency crews were called to the 800 block of Sleepy Hollow Road at 9:10 a.m

Our crew on scene saw residents being evacuated from Shannon Hollow.

“Luckily no one was hurt,” Rob Benson said.

Benson is thankful that none of his neighbors were injured after a fire broke out at their apartment complex.

When he woke up there was a knock on his front door.

“I woke up and they were knocking on the door for everyone to come out. When I came out there was smoke down there coming from one of the upstairs apartments,” Benson told Channel 11.

Once everyone was safely out, teams rescued three cats who were reunited with their owners.

Due to the damage, several people had to leave their homes.

“I don't know when we'll get back in. All utilities were switched off. “The gas company used to be here,” Benson added

According to the Castle Shannon Fire Chief, the fire started on the outside of the building and was most likely due to an air conditioning unit that caught fire.

They were able to get it under control.

“We were very lucky that the fire stayed below the roof line. “This is a common fire and we didn't have an addition in the attic and that could have been a problem for us to get the fire under control,” Castle Shannon Fire Chief Bill Reffner said.

However, there was another problem: a shortage of workers.

“During daylight hours, there is a bit of a staff shortage in most departments. I had to go to a third alarm just to get more resources,” Chief Reffner added.

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