1 resident burned in Monessen blaze

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Monessen first responders were called to the scene of a fire in the 400 block of Donner Avenue Wednesday afternoon that sent one resident of an apartment to a Pittsburgh hospital to be treated for severe burns.
Municipal Fire Chief Chris Rhome said the call came in around 4:30 p.m.
The fire, which was contained to the bathroom, appears to have started from a cigarette, Rhome said.
Three occupants were inside the apartment when the fire started and tried to unsuccessfully extinguish the fire before police arrived on scene and used a unit of their own to extinguish the blaze.
“The occupants tried to self-extinguish before calling 911 but the police department knocked it down,” Rhome said. “Officer Chris Gray did a phenomenal job. Without his work this could have been catastrophic.”
An unidentified man was flown from the scene by emergency helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital to be treated for severe burns.
A second resident of the unit was treated on scene by Mon Valley EMS.
Rhome said the unit is habitable pending clean-up.
Monessen Hilltop and Monessen No. 1 cleared the scene around 5:30 p.m.