Monday, March 25, 2013
A 24-year-old first responder recalls the duplex fire that killed four in Emmaus and the firefighters' all-out efforts to save them.
A little TV time and a better-than-average hoagie were the only things that distinguished the beginning of Kasey Beck’s Sunday shift at the Emmaus Fire Department on March 17. The two other firefighters on duty, Donnie Riley III and Dave Ernst, helped pass the time in the crew room. Assistant Capt. Gabe McNabb was there to finish some paperwork. Beck’s girlfriend, Dominique, brought the hoagie from Wegmans for lunch, and at 11:53 a.m., as Beck was finishing it, the call came in. Reported as an apartment building fire at 36 S. 5th St., the four rushed out to get their gear. They jumped into Engine 711 and as soon as they left the fire station McNabb saw the smoke and immediately called a second alarm. Entrapment was broadcast, but the most …
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Thursday, March 21, 2013
National Penn Bank is accepting donations for the Emmaus Fire Victims Funeral Fund.
Donations will be accepted until April 15 for the funeral fund established for the victims of Sunday's fire that killed four people in Emmaus. The Lehigh County Coroner released the names of the victims Tuesday night. Donations to help pay funeral expenses can be made to the: Emmaus Fire Victims Funeral Fund National Penn Bank (formerly KNBT) P.O. Box 193 Emmaus, Pa. 18049 The fund was set up by the Emmaus Business and Community Alliance and Emmaus resident Sue Zacharda. For more information, email Sue at slz2980@gmail.com or the Business and Community Alliance at info@bandcalliance.com. McDonald's in Emmaus will host a fundraiser from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday for employee Bobby Taylor, who lost his beloved girlfriend, Marie, and all his …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
After official investigation, the Emmaus Police Department says that the cause of a fatal fire in an apartment building on Sunday is not suspicious.
Police say the fire that ripped through an apartment building and killed four people at 36-38 S. Fifth St. in Emmaus on Sunday was not of suspicious origin. No signs of criminal activity have been found. There's no word yet on what caused the fire. Official word on the identities of the dead came Tuesday evening. Victims include a mother and her 16-year-old son, who was a student at Emmaus High School. Her boyfriend, who was visiting, also died. A funeral fund for the victims has been established. Firefighters are collecting gift cards and donations to help survivors replace their belongings. The Emmaus Police Department released the following statement Wednesday: The Emmaus Police Department in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The Lehigh County Coroner has identified the four people who died in an Emmaus apartment fire on Sunday.
Four people— three adults and a teenager—who died in a devastating apartment house fire Sunday in Emmaus have been positively identifed by the Lehigh County Coroner's office. All four died of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries (burns). Coroners needed to use dental records and DNA to identify the badly burned bodies. The residents of 36-38 S. Fifth St. who died are: There's no word yet on what caused the fire, which is under investigation by the Emmaus Police and Fire departments, assisted by the Pennsylvania State Police—Troop M Fire Marshal Bureau and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office. Several residents, including five East Penn students, escaped the blaze. Gift cards are being collected to help the survivors replace their …
Monday, March 18, 2013
A fire that roared through an Emmaus apartment house Sunday has left four people dead and officials have not yet been able to confirm the identities of the victims.
Four people died in a fire Sunday that destroyed an Emmaus apartment house at 36-38 South Fifth Street. The Lehigh County Coroner's Office announced Monday that positive identification of the four victims will need to be made through scientific means: We are hoping to use dental records if they are available. If positive identification cannot be made through the use of dental comparisons, DNA testing will need to be performed. Coroner Scott Grim added: As soon as positive identification and notification to the families has been made, I will release their identities. The coroner's office along with Emmaus Police and Fire Departments are conducting the investigation with the assistance of the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal. The fire …
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A fire that roared through an Emmaus apartment house Sunday has left four people dead.
Four people died in a fire Sunday that destroyed an Emmaus apartment house at 36 S. Fifth Street. The names of the victims have not yet been released. Patch will post further details as soon as they become available. The fire was so intense that firefighters were unable to get into the double house to attempt a rescue, according to multiple reports. A woman who lives across the street says her daughter her a "boom." The sidewalk in front of her house was covered with shattered glass from windows that blew out of the burning building. There's no word yet on what caused the fire. A state police fire marshal was on the scene. The blaze began shortly before noon on Sunday. A woman who lived in the first floor apartment of the building told the…
A fire that roared through an Emmaus apartment house Sunday left four people dead and investigators searching for the cause of the blaze.
Investigators continue probing the cause of a ferocious fire that killed four people as it consumed an Emmaus duplex at 36-38 S. Fifth St. on Sunday. The Lehigh County Coroner will use dental records and maybe even DNA to positively identify the victims because their bodies were so badly burned. Related story: How to Help Survivors and Victim's Families Meanwhile, staff at McDonald's in Emmaus say the girlfriend of one of their co-workers is among the dead. "She was his world," the McDonald's manager said. Citing family members as sources, WFMZ is identifying the other victims as a mentally disabled mom—Melissa Twining—and her son, Montana, a 16-year-old East Penn School District student. The fourth victim, WFMZ says, is Melissa Twining's …
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Saturday, January 5, 2013
Emmaus Fire Department spearheads community effort to help two families left homeless following a Sunday night fire on Main Street in Emmaus.
Emmaus firefighters are planning ways to help two families displaced by a Sunday night blaze that destroyed a duplex on Main Street in the borough. The families include an older couple and a father and his 11-year-old daughter. The girl was injured trying to save her dog, a Great Dane, which died in the blaze. The Emmaus Fire Department will hold a donation drive Saturday, Jan. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire station, 100 North Sixth Street. The firefighters have been collecting clothes for both families and have been getting a good response to their request for help, according to Lt. Bob Schwoyer. The fire department is now working with the Red Cross to ensure that donations received beyond what the Emmaus families need will be …
Friday, January 4, 2013
Emmaus Fire Department spearheads community effort to help two families left homeless following a Sunday night fire on Main Street in Emmaus.
Emmaus firefighters are planning ways to help two families displaced by a Sunday night blaze that destroyed a duplex on Main Street in the borough. The families include an older couple and a father and his 11-year-old daughter. The girl was injured trying to save her dog, a Great Dane, which died in the blaze. The Emmaus Fire Department will hold a donation drive Saturday, Jan. 5 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire station, 100 North Sixth Street. The firefighters have been collecting clothes for both families and have been getting a good response to their request for help, according to Lt. Bob Schwoyer. The fire department is now working with the Red Cross to ensure that donations received beyond what the Emmaus families need will be …
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Emmaus Fire Department spearheads community effort to help two families left homeless following a Sunday night fire on Main Street in Emmaus.
Members of the Emmaus Fire Department met New Year's Eve to discuss plans to help two families who lost everything Sunday night when a raging fire that began on the rear porch of 502 E. Main St. destroyed their duplex in the borough. The families displaced from their home include an older couple, a man, a woman an a youngster. Capt. Matt Hahn of the Emmaus Fire Department contacted Emmaus Patch after the New Year’s Eve meeting to share initial details of the fire department’s planned relief efforts. According to Hahn, the department intends to open two bank accounts – one for each family – into which members of the community can deposit monetary donations. Since today is Jan. 1 and all banking institutions are closed, Hahn said that …
Carl W
8:28 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
My sympathies, Mr. Beck. (One call, we would have had to have been 20 seconds away, to BEGIN to save two children in a Ford Pinto. Emotions ran VERY high throughout our company. I know the combination tears & anger. DON'T second-guess or in any way be hard on yourself). more ›