6 days ago
A fire destroyed a Harmar Township home. Residents say it could have been saved if the neighborhood had fire hydrants.
After flames tore through a Harmar Township home, fear has set in among neighbors due to the absence of fire hydrants.
Neighbors in this community believe one home would not have been a total loss if there were fire hydrants in this neighborhood.
"The first thing the police asked me was, 'Where are the fire hydrants?'" Christy Gaul recalled.
Gaul has lived in a tucked-away community situated along the Allegheny River in Harmar Township since 2010. She moved here for the amenities, beautiful views of the river and the waterfront access.
But what it doesn't have, she says, is concerning: zero fire hydrants.
"We have all been discussing this as a neighborhood that we don't have them and we were concerned," she said.
Exactly what Gaul and her neighbors feared took place early Saturday morning.
A home on Werner Camp Road caught fire, forcing firefighters to shut down Freeport Road and an active set of railroad tracks so the closest fire hydrants near Target could be accessed.
"If the firefighters [hadn't gotten] here soon enough, we could have all, I mean, there's a car right there, it could have exploded, we could've all been gone," Gaul said.
Why aren't there any fire hydrants?
KDKA-TV was told by the property owner, Evergreen Werner Hancock, that there are no requirements for fire hydrants. Werner Camp homeowners lease their land from Evergreen.
The company acquired the property in 2020. They say they were never notified by the township that hydrants were required, even though they knew there weren't any.
In a statement to KDKA-TV, the company says, in part:
"After the fire this week, we contacted Harmar Township, and they informed us that the township suggested the idea of installing fire hydrants to the prior owners, but they chose not to install them. We have reached out to the Oakmont Water Authority about installing hydrants. When we get information, we will work with Oakmont Water Authority and Hammer Township about the possibility of installing hydrants."
Until that happens, Gaul says she's still going to worry every time she goes to bed at night that she's going to be awakened again by the sound of emergency sirens and the smell of smoke.
Only, that time, she says, it may be her home.
"After seeing that, it was horrible, it was horrible," Gaul said.
Officials have not released the cause of the fire.
KDKA-TV reached out to the township for comment on the lack of fire hydrants and is waiting to hear back.
