Fire-Rescue News- Neighbors tried to rescue elderly woman from fatal Hammonton house fire
By THOMAS BARLAS, Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 | 0 comments
By THOMAS BARLAS, Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 | 0 comments
HAMMONTON - Authorities have identified the woman who died in a house fire Thursday as Lois Press, 90, who had been married to the former owner of Ideal Manufacturing Co., a popular women's clothing store.
Also injured was Press's caretaker, Bonia Chikoyani, who suffered minor burns. Chikoyani was treated and released from AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center's Hammonton campus.
Firefighters were called to the 600 block of Fairview Avenue at......Continue Reading
(The Call Recording reported the victim was a child.)
Full Call Recording
This is a VOX recording. It is condensed and not in real time.
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6:50 p.m., said Police Chief Frank Ingemi. The victim, the mother of homeowner Cathie Scibilia, died in the fire, he said.
Investigators at the scene describe the victim as a 90-year-old, bed-ridden woman. They say the family has lived in the home for a very long time.
Tina Broyles, whose family lives a few houses away, said her husband Mike and son Jake, 13, were playing basketball in the back yard when the fire began. The Broyles and other neighbors smelled smoke and saw flames. They ran to the home, trying to rescue the woman inside.
"The door was too hot," Broyles said. "You could hear things exploding inside."
People at the scene Friday think the woman's oxygen tanks fueled those explosions.
Neighbors said they were surprised by how quickly the fire spread through the house.
"It seemed to happen very quickly," Broyles said.
"You don't believe how fast it went," said John LaMazza, 75, who lives across the street from the fire scene.
LaMazza said he was watching television when he heard a commotion outside his home. He said he went outside and found fire trucks from here and Winslow Township and Folsom in the street.
"They parked in my driveway, he said.
Neighbors and town officials said the victim lived with Scibilia. The victim's granddaughter, Monica Friel, lived next door, they said.
Broyles said Scibilia wasn't at home when the fire began. She said a caretaker was in the house when the fire broke out, and reportedly suffered smoke inhalation trying to rescue the woman.
Fire investigators, along with the Atlantic City Prosecutor's Office forensic crime scene unit, were still on the scene this morning collecting information. Investigators could be seen inside the house near a side window, from which smoke and flames apparently spilled out and blackened part of the brick work.
The fire is not considered suspicious, and the exact cause is under investigation, Ingemi said.
Staff writer Dan Good contributed to this report.
Posted in HAMMONTON EGG-HARBOR-CITY | BREAKING on Friday, May 7, 2010 9:45 am Updated: 2:00 pm.
This story was taken from the news source stated above. It's content and comments are not necessarily the opinion of The Elwood Vol. Fire Company or it's members.
