A 64-year-old Lower Southampton man died Wednesday as fire ripped through a home on Hilton Avenue in the township’s Oakford section.
So far, it appears as though a candle that was lit after the home lost power in Tuesday night’s storm caused the blaze, said Lower Southampton Police Detective Joe Zaffino, who declined to identify the victim Wednesday.
The man’s wife and two children were briefly hospitalized but were released and are, according to Zaffino, staying with family members.
Crews were dispatched to the home at 3:20 a.m. Police arrived on the scene first and located three of the home’s occupants outside the house.
Zaffino said the first floor of the two-story home was fully involved when officers arrived. Heavy fire was seen near the front door.
“So officers kicked in the back door, but the flames were too intense,” the detective said.
Firefighters located the man on the second floor of the home. Preliminarily, Zaffino said, it appears he died of smoke inhalation, though Bucks County Coroner Patricia A. Campi could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” read a Facebook post from Lower Southampton Fire Department No. 1.
The post thanked firefighters from the Feasterville, Trevose, Parkland, Langhorne-Middletown and Southampton companies for assisting in Oakford and Newport and Huntingdon Valley for covering calls.
The fire is being investigation by the Bucks County and Lower Southampton Fire Marshals’ offices.
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