North Fayette, PA - On Monday, June 11, 2007 at approximately 7:23 pm Allegheny County 9-1-1 received several reports of an attached garage on fire, at 2321 Elm Drive in the Hawthorne Estates of North Fayette. The following units were dispatched on the initial assignment; North Fayette (Station 209), Imperial (Station 152), Northwest EMS (Station 195) and North Fayette police.

North Fayette police arrived on the scene within minutes, and reported a working fire, with a vehicle also involved. 209 Chief arrived on the scene shortly after the police officers and confirmed heavy smoke and fire issuing from the garage area on side "A", of the center unit of six 3-story woodframe townhouses.

Crews advanced attack lines and initiated an aggressive attack on the heavy volume of fire. Command requested a 2nd alarm assignment for additional manpower at approximately 7:40 p.m. The following units were dispatched on the 2nd alarm; Oakdale (Station 215), Sturgeon (Station 267) and McDonald R.I.T. (Station 310).

Due to the the rapid spread of the from the garage into the 1st and upper floors, with rapidly deteriorating conditions, command ordered all interior crews out of the structure. Crews retreated and set up for a defensive attack. Several crews used attack lines, as well as aerial master streams, to darken the main body of fire. Additional crews worked on protecting the exposures.

Crews also were experiencing an active gas line fire within the structure and were having difficulty getting the gas shut off. Crews had the bulk of the fire knocked down in a little over an hour.

Crews remained on the scene for an extended period of time, performing extensive overhaul operations and dousing hot spots. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal was called to the scene to investigate the fire, which destroyed the townhouse of origin and caused damage to exposure units. The cause of the fire is under investigation.