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2 dead after intense flames consume White Oak home

WHITE OAK, Pa. — Two people died Thursday morning when intense flames consumed a home and sent smoke billowing into the air in White Oak, officials said.

PHOTOS: Intense house fire kills 2 in White Oak

Firefighters were called shortly before 4 a.m. to State Street, where flames shot through the window of the home and its roof.

“My daughter woke me up. She said there was a house on fire. (I) jumped out, looked across the street and it was already engulfed, within minutes,” said Bob Bone, a neighbor.

The fire rekindled several times.

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Officials said the two residents of the home were found dead on the first floor.

“Another neighbor and I ran around to the side of the house, tried kicking in the door and looking for people. Didn’t find anyone. The flames started getting more and more, so we had to back off,” Bone said.

Neighbors told Channel 11's Gabriella DeLuca that an older couple lived in the destroyed home. Fire officials said one of them might have had mobility issues.

“She was in bad shape. She had a stroke. I guess he was trying to get her out of the house,” said Tom Snyir, who lives next door. "I really cared for them people, that's all that was going through my head and I couldn't do nothing about it because the flames were too bad, really burning."

With all the manpower, firefighters didn't have any problems as they worked in the freezing cold for hours.

"Once you stop your mobility and you start to freeze up, it's a little difficult to get started going again, but overall, it didn't have any negative effect on trying to extinguish the fire," said Steven Staniech, chief of the White Oak Volunteer Fire Department.

 

Cox Media Group

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