Who is Harold Baker? Firefighter responding to Pennsylvania house fire finds 10 of his family members dead
NESCOPECK, PENNSYLVANIA: A deadly fire ravaged a Pennsylvania house, killing 10 people, including three children, on Friday morning, August 5. All the victims were members of the same family and were related to a volunteer fireman who responded to the blaze. State police confirmed that the Nescopeck blaze killed three children, aged 5, 6 and 7, and seven adults. Three others managed to escape the horror.
The house fire may have started on the front porch of the Nescopeck home, according to an official. Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said that as per a preliminary inveatigation, the blaze erupted on the porch around 2:30 am on Friday. “The information I have is that the fire started and progressed very quickly, making it very difficult to get out,” he said. The victims were members of firefighter Harold Baker's family.
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Who is Harold Baker?
Nescopeck volunteer firefighter Harold Baker said the victims included his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two other relatives. “When we turned the corner up here on Dewey [Street] I knew right away what house it was just by looking down the street,” Baker told The Citizens’ Voice. “I was on the first engine, and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully involved. We tried to get in to them.”
Thirteen dogs were in the home when the blaze engulfed it, Baker told WNEP, but it is unclear if any of them survived. “The kids that were there and my two kids were just visiting their aunt and uncle. Those were the ones who own the house. They were there visiting and going into the pool and all that,” Baker said.
Among the victims were Dale Baker, 19; Star Baker, 22; David Daubert Sr., 79; Brian Daubert, 42; Shannon Daubert, 45; Laura Daubert, 47; and Marian Slusser, 54. “All I wanted to do was go in there and get to these people, my family. That’s all that I was thinking about, getting in to them,” Baker told the Associated Press. Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Derek Felsman said said that a “complex criminal investigation” was underway, according to New York Post. A GoFundMe has been set up by Robin Massina, the daughter of the Nescopeck Mayor, to collect donations for the family. At the time this article was written, $16,896 USD had been raised of the $35,000 goal.
Another recent horrific house fire in East Harlem killed a five-year-old girl, a 36-year-old woman and three dogs on Wednesday, August 3. Authorities have said that the fire was caused after the battery of an electric bike exploded. Ericka Williams, 5, and Chanise Anderson, 36, were identified as the victims. Witnesses said that the young girl's father managed to flee the apartment but was unable to enter again to help the others as the door's locking system melted in the deadly blaze. The father, Eric Williams, 46, was hospitalized with severe burns.
