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1 Dead In Liberty Borough Garage Fire

LIBERTY BOROUGH (KDKA) -- One man is dead following a fire early Friday morning in a garage in Liberty Borough.

The fire broke out shortly before dawn, and despite their best efforts, there was little firefighters could do to save the man trapped inside the burning garage.

"I heard the alarms go off at 5:30," said Debbie Huston, a neighbor. "I came running over and there was black smoke and flames shooting up though the back."

Heavy smoke continued to pour from the small, wooden garage on F Street as fire crews poured water on it. The building included a small living space.

"All you worry about is getting over there, seeing if you can help, if there's anything they can do to help [whoever is] trapped," said Huston.

But from the beginning it became apparent a rescue was out of the question.

"The smoke and conditions we had, it was hard to gain access to him," said Asst. Chief James Williams, of the Liberty Borough Fire Department. "It was beyond the point of somebody trying to rescue him."

With sunrise, word of the fire spread through the area.

"It's a hard task to handle," said Asst. Chief Williams.

"When there's a loss in the community, everybody feels it," Huston added.

Friends and neighbors identify the victim as 53-year-old Henry Campbell.

The cause of this fatal fire remains under investigation.

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