Pocono News Section

Wheel-chair bound woman dies in house fire

Wheel-chair bound woman dies in house fire - Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 04:01AM EST

Reported by: Monica Madeja
Saturday June 12 2010

A Schuylkill County woman bound to a wheel chair has died in a house fire.

The deadly fire started around 5:30 Saturday at a home at 309 Maple Boulevard in Deer Lake.

The father of the 44 year-old woman says he still can't believe his daughter has died.

And neighbors can't either, but they say this is a close-knit community and it is time to come together.

"Its still breaks your heart that something like this is close to home. But in that aspect all the people that help it makes you feel better to know everybody's here to help each other," said Amanda Burkey, a neighbor of the victim.

From the next door neighbors who called 911 and tried to enter the house to save the woman, to the friends who gathered to support the grieving family, the neighborhood is joining together to offer their support.

Deer Lake Mayor Michael Cooper said, "everybody here, especially on these closer streets, everybody knows each other and everybody is pretty close with each other."

Family members of the victim who say she was a wonderful woman who worked hard to put her son through college.

Her father says the woman was in a wheel-chair because she suffered from multiple sclerosis and couldn't get out of the house in time.

Deer Lake Fire Chief Mike Strouse said the community is very fortunate they don't see fires like this too often.

He says it took several companies, dozens of men and at least an hour to fight these flames.