Oakland Township apartment building destroyed in Friday fire
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
OAKLAND TWP — An apartment building on McGinley Road is considered a total loss after a massive fire broke out on Friday afternoon, April 11, according to the Oneida Valley Volunteer Fire Company.
The fire was first reported around 2:45 p.m. and quickly grew to the point where thick black smoke could be spotted over the treeline from a mile west of the scene. It took roughly an hour and a half for the various fire departments to get the blaze under control, but by then, a section of the roof had already collapsed.
Crews battle a fire raging out of the roof of a structure along McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11. William Pitts/Butler Eagle
“(I stand to lose) everything,” said Justin Kelminsky, who lost his apartment in the blaze. “TVs, Xbox, computers, laptops, tablets, family heirlooms, clothes. I have a gun safe in there.”
“I’m losing my (expletive) house,” said Dreyvin Lollo, another displaced resident.
Gary Wulff, chief of the Oneida Valley Volunteer Fire Company, says that a cause for the fire has yet to be determined, but stated that it was “accidental” in nature.
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Firefighters work to save an apartment building on fire on McGinley Road in Oakland Township on Friday, April 11, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
Firefighters also cut holes in other parts of the roof and tore down a wall of the most damaged part of the building as part of the fire containment effort.
In addition to Oneida Valley, volunteer fire departments from Herman, Chicora, Unionville, East Butler, and Center Township also responded to the scene, along with the Butler Ambulance Service and the state police.
The building was previously a senior living facility, but was eventually converted into an apartment building with four apartments that housed 11 residents, along with several pets.
According to Wulff, no one was seriously injured in the fire. One person was evaluated for minor injuries but refused transport, he said.
However, nearly a dozen people will have to find a new place to live.
When asked where he will settle after the fire, Kelminsky simply said, “I don’t know.”
