Update: Conemaugh Township house was 'fully involved' upon arrival, fire chief says
A Conemaugh Township woman perished in a house fire that occurred Friday night on the 3400 block of Somerset Pike in Somerset County.
On Monday afternoon, Somerset County Coroner Cullen Swank identified the woman as 92-year-old Mary Bowser.
The initial call came in to Somerset County 911 at 8:46 p.m. and these area fire companies were dispatched to respond: Conemaugh Township, Jerome, Scalp Level, Boswell, Stoystown, Hooversville, Jennerstown, Sipesville, Acosta, Windber, Listie, and in Cambria County Southmont, Riverside, Upper Yoder, West Hills Regional, Adams Township #2, as well as Ligonier Borough in Westmoreland County.
Conemaugh Township EMS and Conemaugh Township Police Department also responded.
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Conemaugh Township Fire Chief Brian Shoff said the house was fully involved when the first fire apparatus arrived on scene.
"What happened was, our deputy chief was on his way home from work when someone waved to him on the road," he said. "The (911) call had been made and there was already a large volume of fire (present).
"We tried to knock on doors and stuff, but the interior was engulfed and the fire had self-vented (burned through) the roof already."
Shoff said the firemen laid out 3,000 feet of 5-inch fire hose to access the nearest hydrant and set up a tanker shuttle to relay water to the fire. Once everything was in place, they were able to get the fire under control in about 20 minutes but remained working on scene until about 4 a.m.
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"Everybody did a terrific job and did what they could do," he said. "Everybody cooperated, everybody worked hard but it was a long time (on scene)."
Swank said that Bowser was pronounced dead at 3:04 a.m. Saturday by Alexis Lichty, deputy coroner.
"The cause of death is pending on autopsy and laboratory results," he said, adding that those results could take between four to six weeks to be returned.
Swank confirmed that Bowser lived in the home but he would not comment on where in the home her remains were found.
The Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal was also called in Friday night to investigate the cause of the fire.
Shoff said that Bowser was once a very active member of the ladies' auxiliary for the former Ideal Fire Company, which merged in 2010 with the Krings Fire Company to form the Conemaugh Township Fire Department.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County fatal structure fire Friday
