By MICHAEL RUBINKAM and MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
NESCOPECK, Pa. (AP) — Fire tore quickly through a house in northeastern Pennsylvania early Friday morning, killing seven adults and three children and horrifying a volunteer firefighter who arrived to battle the blaze only to discover the victims were his own family, authorities said.
The children who died were ages 5, 6 and 7, Pennsylvania State Police said in a news release, while the seven adults ranged from their late teens to a 79-year-old man. Autopsies were planned for this weekend.
Harold Baker, a volunteer firefighter in the town of Nescopeck, said the 10 victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives. He said his two children and the other young victims were visiting their aunt and uncle’s home for swimming and other summertime fun.
他说，也有13只狗在两层楼的家中，但没有说他是否知道是否有任何生存。
“我要做的就是去那里，去找这些人，我的家人。贝克在美联社的电话采访中说：“这就是我正在考虑的一切。”
Baker grabbed a hose and air pack, and started pouring water on the fire, desperate to make his way inside and calling out to his son. His chief realized whose house it was, and fellow firefighters escorted Baker back to the firehouse.
A preliminary investigation suggests the fire broke out on the front porch at around 2:30 a.m., Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said Friday evening.
“The information I have is that the fire started and progressed very quickly, making it very difficult to get out,” he said.
Three people were able to escape the blaze, Sanguedolce said. Four state police fire marshals are involved in the investigation, although it won’t be classified as a criminal probe unless they determine the fire was intentionally set, he said.
Nescopeck is a small town on the Susquehanna River, about 20 miles southwest of Wilkes-Barre. The house was on a residential street of largely owner-occupied, single family homes.
Baker said the address initially given for the call was a neighboring house. He realized it was his family members’ residence as the firetruck approached. He said his unit was the first on scene, and the house was already engulfed in flames.
“我们无能为力。我们尝试了，但我们无法进入。”现年57岁的贝克说，他已经40年了。
他的儿子19岁的戴尔·贝克（Dale Baker）曾跟随他的两个父母进入消防，16岁那年就加入了消防。
“He said it all his life, he was just going to be like his dad,” Harold Baker said.
Nescopeck志愿消防公司秘书Heidi Knorr称戴尔·贝克（Dale Baker）为“如此娱乐的灵魂。他只是热爱生活。”
The family was “always willing to help lend a hand to anyone in need,” Knorr said. Dale’s mother was not among the dead listed by Harold Baker.
迈克·斯旺克（Mike Swank）住在马路对面两扇门，他说他恰好在周五早些时候醒着，并在听到急剧爆炸后看着外面。他看到门廊“真的在走了”，然后用另一个邻居的软管避免蔓延到车库。
“I seen two guys outside and they were in various states of hysteria,” Swank told the AP by phone.
他说，一个人在手机上，“我想问他是否每个人都出去了。”“另一个家伙在街上，他只是在圈子里跑来跑去。”
斯旺克说他无法从他们那里获得信息。栅栏阻止了他到达财产的后面。
贝克说，有14人住在家里。其中一个是在交付报纸，另外三人逃脱了。
斯旺克说，几个月前，这家人在他认为是租金对自己的协议的情况下搬家了，并花了很多时间在混乱的前廊上。
“It was so quick and so much smoke, you just knew nobody was going to make it out,” Swank said. He saw cadaver dogs being used to search the scene until the bodies were located.
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Scolforo和Brooke Schultz报道了宾夕法尼亚州哈里斯堡的报道。舒尔茨（Schultz）是美国州议会新闻倡议的美联社/报告的军团成员。Report for Americais a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
