‘Extensive investigation’ expected in Palmer fire
Blaze killed 2; probe is likely to be quite complicated, DA says.
An intense fire that killed two people last week in Palmer Township will require an “extensive investigation” to determine exactly what happened, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said.
The coroner's office has not yet released the identities of the two victims in the fire, which happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 4 at a home at 2901 Stephens St. Neighbors say a 97-year-old woman, Virginia Houck, lived at the home and that her 61-year-old son, Roger, had been visiting from Seattle.
Following a meeting Monday with fire officials, police and the coroner's office, Morganelli said the investigation is “very complicated” and could take several months to conclude.
“In order to figure out exactly what occurred, we have a lot of work to do,” Morganelli said.
He said the fire appears suspicious, but said the coroner's office could not yet determine if either death was a homicide.
Crews returned to the house shortly after 1 p.m. Monday to continue investigating the charred remains of the home.
A postal service worker returned, too, at 2 p.m., to pick up the mail that survived the fire — and the homeowners never received — on Friday.
Rick Breiner met the mailman outside his house, which is right next door to the gutted home.
He updated the postal worker matter-of-factly, as a crew of about six fire and police investigators combed through the rubble behind his neighbor's house.
At least one police car has maintained surveillance at all hours since the fire, Breiner said.
“I can sleep good at night at least — we've got 24-hour protection,” he said.
Activity ramped up Monday compared to the weekend, Breiner said.
Two state fire marshals were assisting Monday afternoon, bringing with them heavier equipment to break down and remove large clutter. The brick house remains standing, but the windows are boarded up, the yellow police tape sags in the front yard, and the hole where the front door was gapes open into a dark interior.
As the afternoon wore on, a few more official vehicles pulled up to the house.
That hasn't been welcome news to the quiet neighborhood.
“It's made a spectacle of our little neighborhood — and at their expense,” said one neighbor.
Township Detective Jim Alercia, who is also a deputy fire chief, has said the homeowner car, which the son drives when he is visiting, was found parked two blocks from the home. Alercia said authorities haven't tested the house for accelerants yet, but didn't find any in the car.
Neighbors said they heard loud explosions in the blaze and several tried to enter the home, but were driven back by heavy smoke and flames.
Coroner Zachary Lysek confirmed two bodies were found in the wreckage of the home, but said Monday afternoon he was still working to identify the victims.
Jim Mattes, who lives across the street from the split-level brick home, had said Virginia Houck had been in and out of the hospital for years and recently started hospice care.
pamela.lehman@mcall.com Twitter @pamelalehman 610-820-6790