Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Two people are dead following a fire in the 300 block of North Elmwood Avenue in the Langhorne section of Middletown.
Fire Marshal Jim McGuire confirmed one person was pronounced dead at the scene and the other at St. Mary Medical Center.
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According to officials, the fire was reported shortly before before 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
The first emergency officials to arrive on the scene subsequently called for additional help from other area fire stations due to the nature and old age of the home involved, firefighters said. The fire reportedly spread through the old home in a matter of minutes.
At least two older people people were reported by neighbors to be inside the home, and multiple medic units from the Penndel-Middletown and Tri-Hampton rescue squads were called to the scene.
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Neighbor Chris Heinz has lived in the area for quite some time and has known the residents ever since he was little.
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“They were always such nice and quiet people,” he said with a somber look in his eyes. “I saw the fire and ran outside but by then the firetrucks were already here. They got here so quick.”
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Longtime neighborhood resident Laszlo Czikora said he tried to go in the home to check for anyone inside but a man who identified himself as a firefighter told him not to due to the extent of the flames.
“If that guy wasn’t there to tell me no, I was fixing to get in that house,” he told LevittownNow.com. “I was yelling for them to get out.”
The crunching leaves beneath dozens of firefighters feet could be heard loudly Tuesday night despite the wailing of sirens and chatting among neighbors who looked at the blazing home from across the street.
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When the fire began to subside, firefighters were seen kneeling in the mud, splashing their faces with muddy runoff from the fire hoses. Some were gasping for air as they poured bottled water over their faces, and steam rose off their bodies.
McGuire said the investigation into the fire is ongoing and no determination has been made. A police investigator was at the scene to assist fire officials.
