Fire Destroys a Sixth Street Apartment in Oakmont, No Injuries

An apartment complex on Sixth Street—between Maryland and Pennsylvania avenues—in Oakmont went up in flames on Thursday night. Though one of the three units in the complex has been destroyed, no one was hurt.

and Verona volunteer fire departments, as well as Red Cross volunteers and the Lower Valley Emergency Services responded to the fire, which was reported before 6:30 p.m.The county fire marshal currently is investigating the incident.

Oakmont fire Chief Bill Peoples said the cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet. He said fire officials were able to extinguish it quickly.

"We haven't done much investigation yet," Peoples said. "It's still really early. It's going to be a while before we come up with a solution. No one was in there, and everyone is OK."

Peoples said the back apartment was destroyed and it's not livable.

Tim Anker, tenant of the back apartment, watched firefighters extinguished the fire with tears in his eyes. He said he had gone to Ace Hardware on Allegheny River Boulevard to buy materials for some work.

"I came back and all this was happening," he said. "I don't know how it started."

Anker, who has been living in the apartment for two years, said he hadn't been smoking inside and he can't recall if he left any appliances on. He said it's upsetting to see his belongings go up in flames.

"I lost everything," Anker said. "It doesn't feel too good."

Two things that did make it through the fire were a family member's turtles, which Anker was taking care of. He said he's going to stay with family in the meantime.

Firefighters had to open the walls up to make sure the fire hadn't extended.

The two other units in the complex had smoke damage. Tenants from the upstairs apartment declined to comment.