Firefighter hurt in fire dies of injuries

GROVE CITY, Pa. — A firefighter who was critically injured in a fatal house fire in the borough Friday morning has died.

Bradley Holmes, 21, with the Pine Township Engine Co., died at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed.

He had been in the burn unit of UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh with burns over 75 percent of his body.

Holmes was trapped on the second floor of a duplex on Garden Avenue while searching for an occupant of the apartment, Patricia Andrews Smith, 40, who died in the blaze. Another Pine Township firefighter, Scott King, was trapped with him and injured, but not seriously.

On the department’s Web site Wednesday, its chief, Christopher Holmes, who is Bradley’s brother, left a message.

“This morning my brave little brother lost his fight against his burns he sustained last Friday,” the chief said. “Brad will always be my hero. And to all the supporters out there I send you my deepest appreciation and love.”