Woman Rescued by Neighbors During Early Morning Fire

A one-alarm fire broke out early Thursday morning at the Churchview Gardens apartment complex in .

Churchview Gardens resident Ashley Starr awoke at around 4 a.m. to the sound of neighbors pounding on her door to alert her of the fire. Starr told the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch that she immediately collected her children, ages 5 and 6, and ran out of her apartment.

As she exited the building, Starr noticed people pounding on the door of her neighbor’s apartment across the hall. Starr was concerned when she saw that her neighbor, Linda Angel, 61, did not answer the door and even more concerned when she did not see Angel outside.

Starr said that she noticed smoke pouring out of Angel’s living-room window.

“Then, I looked at (Angel’s) window and saw the blinds moving,” Starr said. “I knew she was still in there, and I had to do something.”

What Starr did was rush to open Angel’s bedroom window and attempt to pull Angel out. Another neighbor saw Starr and came to help her drag Angel to safety.

After Starr’s efforts, she went to sit in her truck with her children.

“They were really scared,” Starr said, “until they saw the firemen arrive. Then, they felt safe again.”

Starr and other ground-floor residents of the affected unit in Churchview Gardens were not allowed back into their apartments until nearly 9 a.m. on Thursday.

When asked if she considered her actions heroic, Starr said, “I’m not a hero. I just did what anyone else in the building would have done.

“Everybody in this community watches out for each other. I know any one of my neighbors would have done the same for me and my kids if the situation had been different.

“I think the media (are) making too big a deal out of all of this. When the police and firemen were here, (Angel) kept asking for me. I went over to her, and she gave me a huge hug and kiss. She was crying and couldn’t stop thanking me. That’s the reaction that means the most to me, not all this attention from (the press).”

Starr has lived in Baldwin Borough for approximately six years, during which time she says she has made many good friends in the community and, in particular, her apartment complex.

She said that she is happy to have been able to help one of those friends.

Despite the presence of a flammable oxygen tank in Angel's apartment, no one was injured.

The cause of the fire has not been officially determined by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office as of 3 p.m. on Thursday, and the has refused to comment with Chief Michael Scott on vacation.

Firefighters from extinguised the flames.