An early morning house fire in Shavertown claimed the life of one man and sent two others to the hospital Wednesday, marking the third fatal residential fire in Luzerne County in less than a week.
Emergency crews were dispatched just before 5 a.m. to a home on North Pioneer Avenue in Kingston Township after reports of a structure fire with people trapped inside.
When firefighters arrived, they found the home heavily engulfed in flames.
Luzerne County Coroner Dion Fernandes pronounced an adult man dead at the scene. His identity has not yet been released as authorities work to notify family members.
A firefighter also suffered minor injuries while battling the blaze.
The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
Fire chief discusses intensity of blaze
Shavertown Fire Chief Gary Biesel said crews immediately began rescue efforts, but the intensity of the fire quickly forced them to change tactics.
“When you get a call at 5 in the morning, you have a structure fire with entrapment, everybody knows what their job is and they went right to work,” Biesel said. “When I got here, I had to make a decision as to whether they were going to continue to try to go in, and I made the decision, no—we’re not saving anything viable. We’re going to back out and just do a defensive.”
Although water supply is often a concern during large fires, Biesel said that wasn’t the issue Wednesday morning.
“Just the amount of fire we had. We had plenty of water and a hydrant right up the street. We had a tanker from Trucksville right down the road. We had lots of water the whole time. We just couldn’t get into the house. We tried and we just couldn’t do it.”
Impact on surrounding neighborhood
The fire also impacted the surrounding neighborhood.
St. Therese’s Church, located just a block away, canceled its Vacation Bible School Wednesday after the fire caused power and water outages in the area.
Parish Secretary Kelly Bryk said organizers felt it would not be appropriate or safe to hold camp while emergency crews remained on scene.
“We thought, number one, it would be kind of scary for children to see fire. We didn’t know how long that was going to be going on. The power and the water were both out here, so that’s not a good thing to have when you have a lot of children around.”
While the church does not know the family personally, Bryk said parish members immediately looked for ways to help.
“It’s a human tragedy anytime there’s a fire or sort of event. You don’t need to know somebody in order to really feel sad and sorrow for them. They’re definitely in our thoughts and prayers for sure.”
Church volunteers also brought snacks and water to firefighters working at the scene.
“We do what we can to help. Our sacristan went over to see if the firefighters or anybody else needed any supplies that we could offer from the church. With Vacation Bible School going on, we had a lot of snacks and water, so we took that over to see if there was any way we could help.”
The Luzerne County Animal Response Team responded to assist pets at the home. Officials said one cat was rescued and taken to an emergency veterinary hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. Two other household pets remain unaccounted for.
Third fatal fire in county in recent days
Wednesday's Shavertown blaze is the third fatal house fire in Luzerne County in recent days.
On Saturday, 15-year-old Connor Vest was killed in a house fire on Bennett Street in Luzerne Borough. Three other family members were injured in that blaze.
Two fundraisers — one on GoFundMe and another by 570 Apparel — have been set up for Connor's family.
Then on Tuesday, 51-year-old Carmelo Millan died in a fire at his home behind 40 Church St. in Plymouth Borough.
Fernandes later said Millan intentionally set the fire that claimed his life.
Read more from our partners at FOX56.