Pocono News Section

11-Year-Old Boy Dies in Wayne County Fire

11-Year-Old Boy Dies in Wayne County Fire - Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:07PM EST

Reported by: David DeCosmo
Friday, Mar 28, 2008 @12:07pm EST
BERLIN TOWNSHIP- It was a tragic scene Friday morning in Berlin Township, Wayne County as a child dies in a fire and other family members are burned.

Volunteer firefighters from nearly a half dozen area companies responded to a 911 call from Berlin Township around 2:30 Friday morning. They arrived to find flames shooting from the windows and the roof of a single family home on Perkins Pond Road. They said two family members were standing outside. But an 11-year-old boy was still inside a rear bedroom.

Beach Lake Fire Department Chief Anthony Franklin explained how the rescue attempt played out. "There was a large attempt by their family as well as the firefighters to try to get in there from multiple sides of the building. We were also faced with electrical lines coming down off the corner of that building where the fire started and the whole one corner of the building was off limits"

In the end all of those rescue efforts proved to be in vein. This tragedy hits everyone hard. Even the firefighters who said they're especially affected when a young child is involved.

Assistant Fire Chief John Franklin declared "Any first responder or fireman, EMT, or anybody goes into a totally different mode when it’s an entrapped. Whether it’s a kid or an elderly person or anybody like that. It really hits you hard."

Neighbor Tammy Stegner watched as the firemen battled the blaze. Her daughter use to play with the victim. "Adam was a fun, outgoing child. He was very nice, a very outgoing child. He was a very nice kid" stated Stegner.

The boy's father and older brother had to be treated for minor burns. His mother was at work when the fire broke out. The fire chief believes the fire started when a lamp in the front bedroom fell onto the floor.

The name of the child has now been released by the Wayne County Coroner's Office. It's Adam Erickson. The cause of death has yet to be determined pending an autopsy.