NESCOPECK TWP., PA — A 73-year-old man was killed in a house fire late Saturday evening in Nescopeck Township, marking the fifth fatal fire recorded in Luzerne County this month.
Emergency crews responded to reports of a structure fire along Wapwallopen Road around 10:00 p.m. Saturday. Luzerne County Coroner Dion Fernandes confirmed that James E. Velekei was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for later this week to determine the official cause and manner of death.
The tragedy comes during an extraordinarily deadly month for residential fires across Luzerne County, which saw three fatal fires in less than a week early in the month:
- Aug. 1 (Luzerne Borough): 15-year-old Connor Vest was killed and three family members were injured after an early morning fire swept through a home on Bennett Street.
- Aug. 4 (Plymouth Borough): 51-year-old Carmelo Millan died in a residential fire behind 40 Church St. Coroner Fernandes later ruled the incident a suicide, determining Millan intentionally set the blaze.
- Aug. 5 (Shavertown/Kingston Twp.): An adult man died and two others were hospitalized following an early morning fire on North Pioneer Avenue.
- Aug. 17 (Wilkes-Barre): 11-year-old Nikoli Slivinski was killed in a multi-alarm fire at a family home on South Grant Street.
- Aug. 22 (Nescopeck Township): 73-year-old James E. Velekei died in a Saturday night house fire on Wapwallopen Road.
The cause of the Nescopeck Township fire remains under active investigation by local authorities and state police fire marshals
Luzerne County's Fifth Fire Fatality This Month
Luzerne County's Fifth Fire Fatality This Month
