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Sendoff for two firefighters killed in Schuylkill County house fire

Three people are dead, two of them firefighters, at the scene of a house fire near Tamaqua.

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY, Pa. — Three people are dead after a house fire in Schuylkill County Wednesday night. Two of them are firefighters.

Early Thursday morning outside St. Luke's Miners Campus in Coaldale, fire companies from around the area showed up for a send-off for those two firefighters.

They are 59-year-old Marvin Gruber and 36-year-old Zachary Paris. Both of them are from the New Tripoli Fire Department in Lehigh County.

The two photos below are from the New Tripoli Fire Department's website.

Credit: New Tripoli Fire Department

It says that Zach Paris was the first assistant chief and that Marvin Gruber was a firefighter and a director at the department.

During a news conference Wednesday night, Trooper David Beohm talked about the devasting loss for this community and the sacrifices that volunteer firefighters make on a daily basis.

"It's tragic. It's absolutely tragic, and our hearts go out to these volunteer firefighters because, you know what? When their tones drop, they go outside- they leave their home, and they come out here and do this for free to protect all of us," said Trooper David Beohm, a public information officer with the Pennsylvania State Police. 

Crews spent hours battling the fire in West Penn Township near Tamaqua Wednesday night. The fire started around 4 p.m.

More than 100 first responders were on the scene Wednesday night in the hours-long effort to contain the fire.

They were pulled from the home after several mayday calls. 

We do not know a lot about the third person found dead outside the home. 

The body discovered on the property was found about 100 yards behind the house, which sits on a 20-acre plot of land.

Police would not confirm if that person was a resident of the home.

There is no new information on the body found on the property, though it is still under investigation.

ATF and fire marshal were on the scene Wednesday night and will be back Thursday to continue the investigation.

WATCH BELOW: State police provided an update on the deadly fire in Schuylkill County Wednesday night.

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