Mom, fire victim, leaves 3 children behind in Schuylkill County

Dec. 16—With Christmas only 10 days away, three Schuylkill County children are struggling to comprehend the loss of their mother.

Amanda Lynn Cogorno, who died Tuesday in a house fire in Montgomery County, leaves behind a 4-, 6- and 8-year-old.

"The 6-year-old can't understand why she's not getting phone calls from her mother," said Tracey Bachman, a Minersville woman who has custody of the child. "She asks me if I can get a cellphone and bring her back."

Cogorno, 32, perished when the farmhouse where she was living caught fire on Swamp Pike in Limerick Twp.

Alexander Balacki, Montgomery County first deputy coroner, said that Cogorno was pronounced dead at 12:26 p.m. Tuesday at the scene.

An autopsy was performed Wednesday by a forensic pathologist at the coroner's office in Norristown, Balacki said.

But the cause of death has not been determined pending the results of the autopsy, he said.

Ken Shuler, chief of the Limerick Fire Department, said the blaze was reported around 11:15 a.m. Tuesday.

"When we arrived, there was already heavy fire and smoke coming from the back of the house," he said. "The fire was way ahead of us."

Along with Cogorno, two pets perished in the fire, Shuler said.

Bachman said that Cogorno, who had lived in Mahanoy City, recently moved to Limerick. She was living with a boyfriend, Noah Reinhard, in the home of his parents.

She had returned from work at a local convenience store early Tuesday morning, Bachman said, and was asleep in a third-floor bedroom when the fire broke out.

"She was just getting her life together," said Bachman, 53, a home health aide. "It's so hard."

Growing up Amanda Walters in Duncott, Cogorno attended Minersville Area High School, where she participated in the drama club, according to her Facebook page.

Bachman, who has known Cogorno for about eight years, cares for two of the children with the help of a friend, who sits with them while Bachman is at work. The third child is with another county family.

The children are too young to fully comprehend the loss of their mother, Bachman said.

"The youngest asks me if his mommy is mad at him because she's not calling," Bachman said.

Coming at Christmastime makes it especially difficult for children, Bachman said. Cogorno had Christmas gifts for the children, which were lost in the fire.

Shuler said that Limerick firefighters are taking Cogorno's loss hard, even though there was little chance of rescuing her.

"Losing someone is bad any time of year, but coming right before Christmas adds to the emotion," the chief said. "The firefighters are pretty torn up about it."

Bachman and others are working on funeral arrangements. Cogorno's parents are both deceased.

In quiet moments, Bachman sometimes feels as if the tragedy had not occurred.

"It doesn't feel like it's real," she said. "It's like you're waiting for her to call."

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007