JIM THORPE, Pa. — A woman is dead after a fire early Tuesday morning at a home on Mauch Chunk Lane in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County.
The fire chief in Jim Thorpe tells Newswatch 16 they had the fire under control in about an hour, but the flames took a heavy toll. One woman is dead.
The coroner identified the victim as Hemataben Patel, age 59.
Three others were sent to a hospital.
The first alarm came in just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. A second quickly followed.
"I arrived first on the scene, encountered heavy fire coming out the front door and front windows here on the first floor," said Jim Thorpe Fire Chief Vince Yaich.
There was much more, residents pleading for help.
"One of the residents was already out in the yard. Two of them were on the back roof. We had to retrieve them from the roof and, unfortunately, one we later found in a front bedroom," added Chief Yaich.
That woman died at the scene, according to the Carbon County coroner.
While there were so many unknowns early in this investigation, the fire chief here in Jim Thorpe does have a theory as to where the flames got their start, and that's where you see two state police fire marshals working, concentrating their search for clues in one area of the home-- first-floor front.
"I would say it started probably in the front downstairs front room, judging by the amount of fire that I had when I got here," explained Chief Yaich.
In spite of all the smoke and flames, they did manage to get firefighters inside the burning home.
"The initial departments got in here, we immediately sent them in for search and rescue. Unfortunately, we were too late," said Chief Yaich.
Jim Thorpe fire called in help from nearby communities. The chief says some firefighters suffered minor bumps and bruises. They are all OK.
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