HUGHESTOWN, Pa. — A man with special needs died in a fire Monday night in Luzerne County.
The fire started around 6 p.m. Monday in a home on Kenley Street in Hughestown.
The victim was identified as 20-year-old Aidan Herrera.
Caution tape now surrounds the entryways and Christmas decorations outside the Herrera home on Kenley Street in Hughestown.
Flames gutted the second floor Monday night.
Alberto says he found out about the fire from a call from his son's personal aide.
"What happened was, she called me and said there was a small fire. I said, 'Can you get my son out of the house?' and said she couldn't get him out. And she got herself out," Herrera said.
Herrera said Aidan had autism and was nonverbal and that he was upstairs with his aide at the time of the fire. His father was not home.
His father tells us the aide made it out safely, but his son could not make it out on his own.
"They couldn't get him out in time. I tried to race down here from where I was at, and I tried to make it in, but they will let me go in to try to. I was trying to explain to them, 'He's trapped.' They're going to understand, he's nonverbal. He doesn't talk, and I'm wanting to get in there, and they won't let me go in. So I think he was he was in the house, maybe 45 minutes by himself, stuck upstairs."
From the outside, it doesn't look like the fire was that bad as the walls and roof, for the most part, are intact, but a look inside shows you how hot it really was and how it wasn't safe for anyone, including first responders to be there.
Police tell us both the aide and Aidan were sent to the hospital where Aidan passed away. The aide is reported to be OK.
"Too much smoke in his lungs, up in his head, and he can't breathe. And when they got him out, there wasn't even a pulse or heartbeat. He's practically dead when I got to the hospital. That was when we got there. They were using the machines trying to keep him alive, and they couldn't keep him alive because it was so bad," Herrera said. "He passed away last night."
"Aidan's birthday is Valentine's Day, so we're going to have a nice big party for him because he's going to be 21. And then he was graduating this year from Wyoming Valley West High School. He's been in school since he was young, so he graduated this year at 21. And we're going to have a nice party for him over the summer when he graduates, so that was two accomplishments I was going to do with him. Now, I can't do that, and I'm saddened by the whole situation. But now I have my other boys. I'm going to try to take care of my other boys and myself. Just try to make everything I can make better," said Herrera.
His father tells Newswatch 16 Aidan loved to play outside and spend time with his younger brothers.
"We had him out playing basketball in the front yard. We have a trampoline in the back. We had a blow-up pool, try to keep them in the water. He loves the pool. That's what he loves doing, all those things. He likes going for walks. We went off to West Wyoming. He loved the other kids and Boy Scouts, so we had them over there."
Now, as Alberto looks at what the fire left behind, he says he's trying to grieve the loss of his son while also trying to stay strong.
"I looked in the house. It's bad, and it's a mess, and I don't know. I don't know what to do. So I'm trying to get help. I was talking to the Red Cross, trying to get help. Because I have other kids that I do spend time with. And I get them every two days, and you know I spend time every other weekend with them too. Now, I don't know where to go right now. So I have a twin brother, but he has his own kids, have their own rooms too. Trying to do what I have to do to help myself and the kids."
A state police fire marshal will investigate the cause.
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