Duplex Fire Displaces Two Families in Moon Township

Linda Kennedy was in the kitchen getting her hair done Saturday when she and a friend began smelling smoke. 

"I looked out and saw smoke blowing past my windows," said Kennedy of 423 West End Ave. Extension. 

Outside, Kennedy saw fire in the rear of the duplex and grabbed a garden hose to extinguish the flames. She couldn't.

"It kept getting bigger and worse. I had to get everybody out," said Kennedy, referring to her 56-year-old disabled mother and a 6-year-old son. 

Moon firefighters responded at 5:12 p.m. to the 400 block of West End Avenue Extension, near Thorn Street and the Coraopolis border.

Before firefighters arrived, neighbors pitched in to help. Susan Wilkinson said she and other neighbors helped carry Kennedy's mother from the home. Neighbors also tried to fight the flames.

"I saw neighbors getting their garden hoses trying to put the fire out," Wilkinson said. 

The fire also spread to the unit next door at 425 West End Ave., where Charlotte Stevens, 64, has lived for 11 years. 

Stevens said she got a telephone call from her son. Two of her cats perished in the fire. Firefighters found her third cat alive in the home. 

Moon Fire Captain Aaron Simmons said the two displaced families are being assisted by the American Red Cross. He said the The Allegheny County fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire. 

Firefighters from Crescent Township, Groveton, Coraopolis and Sewickley assisted. 

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