The Jefferson Apartments building stands on Forward Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, three days after a fire ravaged the century-old structure. Demolition is expected shortly.
What saddens Matthew Stock most about the Pittsburgh fire that left him homeless this week is a baby blanket his great-grandmother gifted him on the day he was born.
Stock would walk past the heirloom every day, without much thought, in the one-bedroom Forward Avenue apartment where he had lived for five years. Its soft pastel colors had remained emotive for more than three decades…