By PATRICK BUCHNOWSKI
CENTRAL CITY — Investigators are searching for the cause of a fatal fire that destroyed a home in Shade Township early Saturday.
Fire officials said Joseph Krivonak Jr., 78, died in the trailer where he lived alone in the 800 block of Shaffer Mountain Road near Central City.
The trailer lacked electricity, and officials think Krivonak used a propane heater to keep warm.
A state police fire marshal is searching for the cause, Richland assistant Fire Chief Jason Ober said.
“We think it had something to do with a propane heater,” he said.
The fire broke out around 12:20 a.m. By the time the fire crews were dispatched, flames had engulfed the trailer, Ober said.
Somerset County Coroner Wallace Miller said Krivonak died at the scene. He was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. The cause of death has not been determined, Miller said.
An autopsy was completed, but results weren’t immediately available, Miller said.
About 12 volunteers from the newly formed Shade satellite fire station responded with two trucks. Firefighters from the Richland Township station on Scalp Avenue also arrived along with crews from Hooversville and Stoystown.
Central City firefighters were called but did not respond, Ober said.
The Central City company recently ceased fire coverage in the township after a funding dispute with the Shade Township supervisors. In October, Shade contracted for fire protection with Richland and established the satellite station.
Flames were seen by a passer-by early Saturday, but the remotely located trailer already was engulfed in flames, Ober said.
“It’s such a rural area, he didn’t have any immediate neighbors on one side or the other,” he said.
Ober said there was little that could have been done to save the man.
“The Shade station got here and tried to mitigate the situation,” he said. “The rest of the troops showed up in a timely fashion.”
Ober said the Shade volunteers performed well.
“They did the best they could in the middle of the woods, in the middle of a blizzard,” he said.
