Pocono News Section

Family and Friends React to Jim Thorpe Fatal Fire

Family and Friends React to Jim Thorpe Fatal Fire - Friday, December 11, 2009 at 6:00PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Friday, Dec 11, 2009 @ 06:00pm EST
JIM THORPE, CARBON COUNTY -- The windows are boarded up at 119 North Avenue in Jim Thorpe hours after Larry Darrohn lost his life inside.

Rick Darrohn, Larry Darrohn's brother said, "What Larry did was very brave. He definitely had a good heart."

As fire spread through this home, Larry Darrohn rushed upstairs to save his neighbor, Sharon Joseph. Darrohn's brother says that's just the way Larry was with friends and family. Rick Darrohn said, "He loved his kids a lot. He had two kids and he loved them a lot, would do anything for them. Just a really good guy, good heart."

Darrohn and Joseph didn't make it out. People who work at the Jim Thorpe School District say Joseph will be missed tremendously. For years, she served as President of the Board of Education.

Joseph was also a long time member of the parent teacher association, with Dr. Jean Bickle, Jim Thorpe high school's librarian. "Sharon really was a community person. She'd do anything for anybody. I say she bled red, white and blue because she would be at all the events," said Dr. Bickle.

Now this tragic event has taken away two well known members of what people here call a tight-knit community. We're told Sharon Joseph's daughter got out of the fire safely this morning.

This is the first time someone has died in a fire in years in Jim Thorpe.