Crews battled a house fire Tuesday at 54 Chestnut St. in the Natrona section of Harrison.
The call came in at around 11:30 a.m.
Bob Bolt of Garfield Street said his sister, Shari Bair, was inside the house cleaning her oven when it caught fire.
“She came to my house and said her house is on fire,” Bolt said. “I put my shoes on and grabbed my extinguisher and went over.”
Bolt said he was able to extinguish most of the fire before firefighters responded.
“There was tons of smoke,” he said. “I was in with the flames. I was putting the fire out.”
Bair said that when the fire started, she ran around looking for her extinguisher but “couldn’t even concentrate.”
“I let my dog out and threw one Christmas present out the door and went to get my brother,” she said.
Her dog, Rain, was uninjured. Bair recently rescued a kitten that was inside at the time of the fire. Hilltop Hose Fire Chief Jeff Balog said the kitten was OK.
Bair has lived in her house for 16 years.
She praised the emergency response.
“They came fast. Everybody’s so kind,” she said. “I have a lot of good people in my life.”
Balog said the fire was mostly contained to the kitchen.
Neighbor Deb Maylo of Pond Street heard the response before seeing it.
“I was on the porch and kept hearing fire whistles. I ran around the corner and, ba-boom. I was like, Oh God. Who’s house is on fire?” Maylo said. “It happened at the worst time of the year. I feel for these people. I really do.”
Bair said she plans to stay with family in the coming days.
“I know I’m blessed. I know God will handle anything coming my way,” she said.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating.
All Harrison, Brackenridge and Tarentum fire companies responded as well as Citizens EMS and Harrison police.
There were no reported injuries.
The extent of damage is unknown.