A 24-year-old woman was identified as the person who died in a storage unit fire last weekend in Reading’s 18th Ward.
Kyra C. Bernstel was identified with the aid of dental records, Berks County Chief Deputy Coroner George Holmes said.
Reading firefighters discovered the body in a self-storage unit after putting out a predawn blaze Oct. 26 that engulfed a row of lockers in the first block of North Angelica Street, about a half-block east of Lancaster Avenue.
The first-arriving crew reported heavy fire along a row of storage units. Firefighters forced open the units and extinguished the stubborn flames.
While pulling out material to put out hot spots, they found the remains of a person inside one of the units.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the city fire marshal’s office.
Reading Fire Marshal Jeremy Searfoss said the victim appears to have been residing in the unit.
Although people in need of housing sometimes take up occupancy in storage unit, they are not designed for human occupancy, the fire marshal said.