Fatal fire victim’s identity released
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LAIRDSVILLE – The woman who was killed Wednesday afternoon in a fire at her home at 145 Salem Schoolhouse Road was Joan Stackhouse, 75, according to state police and the Lycoming County Coroner’s Office.
While the cause of the fire remained under investigation by Trooper Nathan Birth , a state police fire marshal, there appeared to be nothing suspicious about it at this point, according to investigators.
The fire broke just after 3 p.m., and it took about an hour for volunteer firefighters to bring it under control.
A husband-wife who live next door called 911, and it was believed the husband went into the burning home and brought Stackhouse out in her wheelchair, investigators said. Stackhouse, who lived in the house with her husband, was the only one home at the time.
Stackhouse was in cardiac arrest when she was brought outside, and efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead at the scene. While her official cause of death has not been released, it appeared that Stackhouse’s death was fire-related and likely smoke inhalation, a deputy coroner said Thursday morning.
The deadly fire remains under investigation by the fire marshal’s office.