PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A community in the Poconos is in mourning after a house fire claimed the lives of an adult and four children overnight.
The fire broke out just before midnight on Tuesday in a twin home on Willow Street in Franklin Township, Carbon County, near Jim Thorpe. Fire crews reported the first floor fully engulfed.
The Carbon County coroner said a woman, three male children and one female child died in the fire.
Jason Moser, superintendent of the Lehighton Area School District, said it’s believed the victims included a kindergartener, a first-grader and a ninth-grader. He said counselors are available to students as they learn the tragic news.
“We have set up, essentially, grief counseling in every building — obviously age-appropriate depending on the different levels,” he said.
Neighboring school districts have offered mental health services as well.
Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the cause of the deadly fire.