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Fire Leaves One Man Dead

OLD FORGE — A fire turned deadly in Lackawanna County. Flames broke out a little after 4 p.m. in the 500 block of Fallon Street in Old Forge. The Lackawan...

OLD FORGE -- A fire turned deadly in Lackawanna County.

Flames broke out a little after 4 p.m. in the 500 block of Fallon Street in Old Forge.

The Lackawanna County Coroner says the victim is 60-year-old Joseph Casella. The coroner says Casella died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Neighbors tell us two brothers lived in the home.

Smoke poured from the house in old forge as firefighters worked to put out the flames.

The fire chief says when crews arrived on scene, the two men who lived here were inside the home.

The chief says one man made it out, but when he tried to go back into the burning home, he was stopped by police.

"He was at the top of the steps. Police brought him down, he got loose from them and started going back up the steps. They grabbed him again and they pulled him out of the building," said Old Forge Fire Chief Mark Tagliaterra.

The chief says that man is OK.

The other, 60-year-old Joseph Casella, had to be pulled from the home through a second story window.

"We made sure we got ladders there, crews from outside went up the ladder to assist them getting the victim down the ladder, as soon as we got him down the ladder we had EMS standing by and we got him right to EMS personnel," said Tagliaterra.

Casella was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, according to the Lackawanna County Coroner.

Folks who live nearby said they were shocked at how quickly the flames spread.

Don Toole of Old Forge said, "It was pretty quick, I only live half a block from here. I heard all the sirens and after I heard the fourth or fifth truck going by I knew it was bad so I came down to take a look."

Anne McDonnell of Old Forge said, "A woman came up to my house and said, this house across the street is on fire. I called 911 and there was smoke pouring out of the whole top of the house."

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