JIM THORPE, Pa. — A woman is dead, and a man was flown to the hospital after an early morning fire in Jim Thorpe. Neighbors tell Newswatch 16 the house on Center Avenue was completely engulfed in flames early this morning.
Tom Condly, who lives just behind the house, says he happened to wake up around 5 a.m. when he started to smell the smoke.
“I looked out the window and to the right of his house, that silver maple there. I could see flames engulfed,” Condly said.
Condly says he called 911 and took pictures of the fire—the residents there are friends of his, and he wanted to have them for insurance purposes. He says by the time he had called for help just before 5:30 a.m. Others had already called as well.
“I ran downstairs, and I ran to the front,” Condly said, “but the whole porch was already pretty much gone.”
Chief Vince Yaich of Jim Thorpe Municipal Fire says one man made it out of the house but that his wife and dog passed away in the flames.
“Flames were shooting out all the windows and the sides,” Yaich said. "The husband got out of the house right as we got here, but unfortunately, his wife was still inside.”
Officials say the man suffered second and third-degree burns. He was flown to a nearby hospital.
The coroner isn’t confirming the woman’s identity until an autopsy this coming Tuesday.
“I just hope people realize, everything that was humanly possible from the fire service was done, and sometimes, it’s just not enough,” Yaich said.
Yaich says it was an effort using three fire departments, with up to 65 responders.
“I just don’t know that there was much they could do besides control it,” neighbor, Tom Condly, said.
Neighbors and officials say the man in the house owns a local business and is well-known by many.
“In a small town, everybody knows everybody, so when something like this happens, it hits home hard,” Yaich said.
“We’re a tight-knit group up here on the hill, and I’m sure everybody’s gonna pull together and help,” Condly said.
Not even twelve hours after that first call came in, flowers could be seen laid along the outside wall of the house.
Two State Police Fire Marshals were called in to determine a cause. Detective Lee Marzen of the Jim Thorpe Police was also there for hours investigating.
“It’s an older-style building, and with the fire, it caused extensive amount of damage to the building,” Marzen said.
Officials say at this time they don’t suspect foul play.