Crews fight fire at old Westinghouse Castle

WILMERDING, Pa. (KDKA) -- Crews battled a fire at the old Westinghouse Castle building on Friday afternoon.

The fire broke out at the building on Commerce Street in Wilmerding around 1:30 p.m. The building now houses a charter school and is undergoing renovations. It is unclear how the damage could impact classes for the fall.

Photos from the scene show smoke billowing from the roof as well as some flames.

There were people inside at the time, but they got out safely. There's been no word on what started fire, but it reportedly broke out on an unoccupied floor that was being renovated.

"When I first came out, I seen all these firetrucks and I'm thinking it's in my building. I'm starting to smell smoke. I come downstairs and can't even get out of the parking lots, anything, cause there's so many fire trucks," said Michael Poindexter, who lives nearby.

"The Statue of Liberty was holding a lighter, that's what it looked like," Poindexter said.

George Westinghouse had his headquarters at the castle, the Westinghouse Arts Academy executive director told PTL in January . The original part of the building was built in the 1890s. It was rebuilt after another fire and an addition was later added, he said.

Westinghouse Arts Academy expanded its campus into the building in 2021.

The fire marshal is now tasked with figuring out how this historical landmark caught fire.