HAMBURG, Pa. —
State police say a pregnant woman, and her two young children were killed in a fast-moving house fire in Berks County.
According to state police, the fire started just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday, on the 400 block of South 4th Street, in Hamburg. When firefighters arrived, the home was heavily engulfed in flames.
Investigators say the pregnant woman, and her 5-year-old and 2-year-old children were found dead inside the home by firefighters.
According to state police, a man was able to escape from a bedroom window of the home. He has been hospitalized.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the fire marshal.
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Berks County Coroner identifies victims of deadly house fire in Hamburg
Sunday September 3, 2017 12:01 AM
Written by Michael Yoder
The Berks County coroner's office identified three people killed early Sunday morning in a house fire in Hamburg. Jennifer Wilder, 27, Gabriel Kalinoski, 5, and Julian Douglas Gust, 2, died when a home in the 400 block of South Fourth Street went up in flames. Wilder was six months pregnant, the coroner's office said. Crews were dispatched shortly before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday for the report of a fully involved home on fire in the 400 block of South Fourth Street with entrapment. Initial calls said the first floor of the 2 1/2-story home was burning and electrical wires were lying on the ground in front of the structure.
One man escaped by climbing through a bedroom window. He was hospitalized for his injuries.
Union Fire Co. of Hamburg, which is a block away from the fire, were on the scene within minutes and immediately called for a third alarm, indicating flames were coming from all four sides of the building at 440 S. Fourth St.Firefighters from around the region descended on the scene, laying hose lines in the front and the rear of the home. Two different ladder trucks were positioned alongside the house, with firefighters being ferried to open holes in the metal roof with a saw, sparks flying to the ground from the cutting.
At about 12:30 a.m., emergency sirens on several engines at the scene were sounded as the fire grew in intensity at the rear of the home. Firefighters scrambled out of the building, sliding down ladders as the flames started shooting out from the windows.
A steady rain continued to fall into the morning hours but did not have any measurable effect of helping to put out the fire. Crews were still putting out hot spots as late as 4 a.m.
The home was completely gutted by the intensity of the flames, with firefighters pulling down the plaster walls to get at the fire. The siding was melted off most of the structure.
The first victim was brought out of the house shortly after 5 a.m., a line of firefighters shielding the scene from onlookers who gathered on the block. The final victim was brought out about 5:30 a.m.
Several people came to the scene throughout the night in tears, being embraced by friends and family as firefighters continued their work. A recovery center was set up in the parking lot of the Die Washerei laundromat across the street, a fire company chaplain talking to and consoling family members.
Herb, who showed up at the fire in the early morning hours, began interviewing neighbors across the street from the house. The exact cause of the fire was still unknown early Sunday morning as the investigation continues.
South Fourth Street was closed between Maple and Windsor streets until just after 10:30 a.m.