6 Die After Late-Night Fire In Pottsville - Philadelphia News, Weather and Sports from WTXF FOX 29
The Pottsville house, in eastern Pennsylvania, where four children and two adults died in a raging fire lacked smoke detectors and had a wood stove lit late Sunday to ward off the unseasonable chill.
The Schuylkill County Communications Center said the fire was reported at 11:55 p.m Sunday. The structral blaze broke Sunday, May 12, 2013, at the single-family home in Pottsville, about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania's coal country.
Firefighters later found the bodies inside, according to Schuylkill County emergency dispatch supervisor Bill Lindenmuth.
Pottsville Fire Chief Todd March said he's only had two fire in his 37-year career with multiple deaths, and in both of those cases it was two.
"We've had nothing like this before," March said. "A lot of the younger guys haven't had a fire death. A lot of the guys are affected by this, especially the kids."
The fire crews got water in the fire immediately, March said, but within five minutes the entire front of the building was engulfed in flames.
"The neighbors smelled smoke, including the mother, and they came out to see what was going on, and they just saw it, you know, heavily involved in the back of the building, a lot of smoke coming out the front," March said.
"It looks like it started back in the kitchen area. We're going to look at that, see if it has something to do with it," March said. "The floors are burnt out in a lot of places, so we've got to watch what we're doing in there."
The fire was declared under control shortly before 1am.
Several firefighters were also reportedly injured while battling the flames.
A Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal was at the scene Monday morning.
The cause of the blaze wasn't immediately known.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
