1 dead after 2 Derry Township fires on Christmas Eve
Dec. 25—An elderly woman in Derry Township died following a house fire Saturday night, one of two simultaneous fires Christmas Eve in Derry Township.
Bradenville Volunteer Fire Department members along with crew from a half-dozen other companies were called to Pizza Barn Road around 5:30 p.m. Saturday night for a report of a house fire, Bradenville officials said.
Not long after, Westmoreland 911 officials also received a call for a reported porch fire at a home on Twin Oaks Road, the opposite end of the township.
A woman trapped in the Pizza Barn Road fire died of her injuries. Her name was not released.
Firefighters had to battle not just the fire, but the weather conditions.
"The weather conditions were the worst. It delayed our response because the roads were nothing but a sheet of ice," Bradenville Chief Mark Piantine told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. "As you can see, we're in the process of picking up hose. We put 1,000 feet of hose down to get our water supply. We're trying to get it picked up before it freezes."
Piantine told WPXI that the woman's husband was able to escape from the house.
State fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire.
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick by email at pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .
