SCOTT TOWNSHIP -- One person is dead after an early morning fire in Lackawanna County.
State police confirm Alan Hoyt, 59, did not make it out of his burning home Tuesday morning in Scott Township.
It started around 5:30 a.m. Within less than an hour, the home along Rushbrook Road near Chapman Lake was leveled by flames.
Inside at the time, Alan Hoyt who emergency crews say did not make it out. Neighbors tell us Hoyt had a passion for music, especially the guitar. So much so that sometimes people walking by his house could hear it.
“It’s going to be hard to know that Alan is not here anymore, to not see that house,” said Toni Warholic.
“Alan is a good friend, a good neighbor, a nice guy. It’s just a tragedy that something like this took place,” said neighbor Tom Warholic.
“You certainly don’t expect that. So we called it in and I looked out the window and the house was engulfed,” added Toni.
Not only did the Warholic family spot the blaze and call 911, they also allowed firefighters to use their pond to get water to douse the flames nearby.
Crews in this part of Lackawanna County say they had the blaze under control within about 20 minutes, but because the fire spread so fast the home was destroyed.
The cause has not been determined.