Two Murrysville residents escaped their homes Tuesday morning in a senior living community after a fire broke out at one and spread to the second.
Laura Thomson raced to The Village of Clover Ridge after her mother texted her that there was a fire next door and she heard explosions, fearing the flames would move to her home next.
“She was just absolutely frantic like I never heard her before,” Thomson said.
The two homes along Heritage Lane had significant damage from the flames which were reported at 7:15 a.m. Firefighters from numerous neighboring communities responded. They worked for several hours to extinguish the fires and protect neighboring houses. Thomson’s mother’s home appeared to have escaped damage.
Officials from Murrysville Volunteer Fire Co. 1 were not available at the scene and did not return a phone message left at the station afterwards.
It was unclear if anyone was hurt or if the fire is under investigation. Murrysville Medic One reported on social media that several firefighters were treated at the scene and several others were taken to a hospital. A message left at the station was not returned.
The community off Logan Ferry Road is close to the border with Allegheny County’s Plum. Thomson said she was worried after her mother reported hearing explosions.
“With this history in this area of house explosions, it’s always an underlying concern,” she said.
Six people were killed in neighboring Plum’s Rustic Ridge community after a house exploded there in August 2023. Three homes were destroyed and several others damaged. Two previous house explosions in the borough happened in 2022 and 2008.
Smoke from Tuesday’s fire enveloped the community of dozens of well-kept manufactured homes not far from Route 286.
“There are good people here, good neighbors, always looking out for each other,” Thomson said. “Really, it’s a miracle that everybody got out and is OK.”