Two firefighters have died after a fire Wednesday afternoon in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, according to reports.
According to WGAL.com, the residential fire occurred in the 1100 block of Clamtown Road near Tamaqua. A Mayday was reportedly declared after the two members became trapped within the home. The rapid intervention team (RIT) managed to remove the two members and they were transported, but both succumbed to their injuries, according to information from Western Pa Incident Audio/News.
A third person also reportedly died at the fire scene. According to a report in the Standard-Speaker, a resident of the house was found in a wooded area behind the structure, dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Republican & Herald reported subsequently that the body found, Christopher Kammerdiener, 35, was being called a suicide.
According to WFMZ, the fallen firefighters were identified as Marvin Gruber, 59, and Zachary Paris, 36, assistant fire chief of the New Tripoli Fire Company, who had reportedly recently joined the Frederick County (MD) Division of Fire and Rescue Service.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration firefighter fatality notifications, on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, Assistant Chief Zachary Paris, 36, and Firefighter Marvin Gruber, 59, both of the Community Fire Company of New Tripoli, responded to a residential fire with possible entrapment in West Penn Township. Approximately one hour into the fire, maydays were received from these firefighters on the second floor. On scene RIT teams went to rescue the two firefighters. They were removed and immediately transported to St. Luke’s Miners Hospital in Coaldale, Pennsylvania. Both firefighters were pronounced deceased a short time later. Assistant Chief Zachary Paris was also a career member of the Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Service. Investigation into the fatal fire is ongoing.
