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Victim of Deadly Williamsport Fire Identified

WILLIAMSPORT — The victim of a deadly fire in Lycoming County has been identified. Authorities said Ann Worthington, 68, died in that fire Sunday night. A...

WILLIAMSPORT -- The victim of a deadly fire in Lycoming County has been identified.

Authorities said Ann Worthington, 68, died in that fire Sunday night.

According to neighbors, the woman lived at the double-block home with her husband, but firefighters believe Worthington was alone inside when the fire started.

Friends and family watched from behind the yellow tape Sunday night as Williamsport firefighters rummaged through the home on Poplar Street.

Firefighters believe the fire got its start on the first floor on the right side of the double-block around 9 p.m. Sunday and spread to the second floor.

"It was on fire, like it was just fully engulfed. There was no way you could get near it, nothing,"  said family friend Amber Favre.

Favre tells us at first her neighbors were frantic. They knew the woman who lived in this home was still inside.

"Several of us tried to get her out because she was in there, but it was too late. It was way too late."

The Lycoming County coroner confirmed Worthington and her dog were killed in the fire.

Investigators came back to the house Monday morning to try and figure out what caused it. They believe the fire may have started in the woman's bedroom.

Cornelia Wier knew Worthington and says the woman lived there with her husband John who is now staying with friends.

"I was hoping and praying it wasn't the house," Wier said. "She was nice. She would talk to anybody. She would sit out on the porch most days."

"With the holidays coming around, it's pretty sad," Favre added. "I mean, if I would come and lose someone, I would feel the same way. I would be devastated."

This fatal fire is especially difficult for some family friends who tell us they also knew the people who lived on the other side of the home who were shot and killed here back in 2016.

Newswatch 16 was there in October of 2016 when a mother and her son who were renting out the left side of the home were shot and killed.

Wier knew them, too. Now that this home has been gutted by fire, she hopes the building will be torn down.

"I'm happy it's gone because it took so much from our family, the circumstances it happened in."

The fire is still under investigation.

Click here to donate to Worthington’s husband, John.

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