Stoystown, PA – Sprinkler system activated for fire at apartment building

Firefighters had to carry a Stoystown-area woman to safety late Sunday after a fire damaged a section of her apartment building.

According to Stoystown Fire Chief Dave Johnson, the woman was found semi-conscious in her bedroom and was taken to Pittsburgh’s West Penn Burn Center for treatment due to her injuries.

The late-night response meant evacuating all of the Hite House’s residents from the building to Stoystown’s fire station a block away.

“Some of the residents had to be assisted from the building, but everyone was evacuated,” Johnson said, adding that no other injuries were reported.

Stoystown fire was alerted about the blaze at 11:04 p.m., he said.

Crews arrived to find smoke inside the building and one apartment with fire damage. Fortunately, the building’s sprinkler system did its job, but crews inside had to eliminate hot spots, Johnson said.

The three-story building suffered smoke damage through much of the facility, he added.

A second evacuation had to be conducted after a fire alarm signaled inside the building at approximately 2 a.m. Monday, but firefighters determined the alarm was faulty – perhaps due to damage sustained in the fire.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, Johnson said.

A state police fire marshal is investigating.