Man Dies In Acme Trailer Home Fire
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ACME (KDKA) -- A man was killed when his Westmoreland County home caught on fire Thursday morning.
The fire was reported around 8:40 a.m. at a trailer home in the 400 block of McGinnis Road in Acme, Mt. Pleasant Township.
Officials say the fire was fully-involved and fast-moving when they arrived at the scene, but firefighters were quickly able to bring it under control.
However, when crews went inside, they found the body of a man in his 50s. He was found in a doorway. Officials say he was about five-feet away from escaping the flames.
"Once the initial knock down was done, crews entered from the rear and from the front and did a search, and found one deceased victim," said Kecksburg VFD Chief Dave Trout.
The Westmoreland County coroner's office has identified the victim as 59-year-old Jeffrey Todd Brown. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
"We do the best we can; in some cases; it doesn't turn out," said Chief Trout.
Brown lived alone but was known as a kind, compassionate man who took in stray cats and treated all he met as a friend.
"Just praying like crazy he was okay, and I got word he didn't make it," said friend and neighbor Mary Anderson. "Todd was a phenomenal guy. He'd come up and sit and talk for hours."
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but initial reports indicate that it was accidental.
Also, it's believed more than a dozen cats also died.
This is the second fatal fire in Westmoreland County in a week. An 87-year-old woman, Shirley Kocherhans, was killed when rowhouses caught on fire Monday in Jeannette.
