Investigators were searching Thursday for the cause of a fire that tore through a home in suburban Pittsburgh, killing a man and four children, and spreading to another home before being extinguished.
Firefighters quickly arrived to find Janet’s two-story home already on fire. The man’s fiance and two other children were rescued by neighbors, police and firefighters.
Neighbor Jack Malle said he saw the flames just after midnight Wednesday when he went outside to smoke a cigarette. He yelled for her daughter to call 911 and ran to get her ladder. She told reporters she saw the children’s mother, Miranda John, standing on her rear roof with a small child in tow.
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“My mother just didn’t want to give up,” Mal said, adding that she tried to return home. “It’s the worst thing you can imagine if you find out they were there.”
Miranda John and her surviving children, ages 10 and 1, were hospitalized.
A boat travels on a river in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 12, 2020. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Westmoreland County Coroner identified the victim as 27-year-old Tyler J. King. Kyson John, 7 years old. Kinsley John, 6 years old. Keegan John, 3 years old. and one-month-old Corbin John. The coroner’s office said a verdict on the cause and manner of death is pending further investigation. An autopsy was performed.
“This is a devastating loss for our family,” said Delena Lewis, Tyler King’s mother. She said, “Not only me, but also his fiance and two other surviving children. They don’t have a father. How do you explain that to them?”
Janet Fire Chief Bill Frey said nearby fire hydrants did not provide enough water to extinguish the raging blaze, and additional tankers had to be dispatched.
“At that time, we were able to get enough water to extinguish the fire,” he said. “By the time we got water, the main building had already collapsed.”
The fire spread to a neighboring house, but everyone was evacuated and there were no injuries.
A prayer vigil was held outside City Hall late Wednesday.
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The state police fire marshal and city police are also working to determine the origin and cause of the fire, and it “could take some time” before a verdict is reached, state police spokesman Clifford Greenfield said. a constable said Thursday.
