DUPONT — The Luzerne County Coroner has released the identity of a man who died as a result of a fire on Tuesday at his home at 403 McLean St., Dupont.
The victim was 77-year-old Thomas Kudrako, according to County Coroner Dion Fernandes. He said an autopsy is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Several local fire and EMS crews were battling the blaze, according to a report from the Times Leader’s newsgathering partners at WBRE/WYOU 28/22 news.
“I smelled fire. I said, ‘Oh my god, he wasn’t home.’ And I’m looking around. I looked down the cellar, and I thought it was in my house, and then I looked out, all of a sudden, everyone was coming. Big blaze. That’s what happened. I came out here, and nobody knew what happened,” Dupont resident Paula Lasota told 28/22 News.
Flames broke out at the residence just after 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to the report.
28/22 News was on scene after the flames sparked sometime around 11:30 a.m. and reported that smoke and flames were visible coming from the home’s roof.
McLean, Stanton, and Curtain streets were closed for several hours but have since reopened.
“By the time they put water on it. It was gone. The house was gone,” Tom Lasota from Dupont explained to 28/22 News.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Vivian Muniz and Joe Mason of WBRE/WYOU contributed to this report.