A trailer fire early Saturday morning claimed the life of an elderly Petersburg man. Frank Neidiffer was found dead once volunteer fire fighters were able to get in.
Fire department spokesman Dave Berg says volunteers arrived to find one end of the trailer burning with fire coming out of the structure. Berg says a neighbor was spraying water on the flames and firefighters were told that a person with limited mobility was trapped in the trailer.
“The police upon arrival took out one of the doors but were overcome by smoke and had to back away,” Berg said. “The smoke was very thick coming out of the available doors in the unit.”
“So upon arrival of our first engine we sent in a search team with a hose line and after just a short amount of time another engine showed up, we completed our lay of hose lines and continued the search and we found an individual who was on the floor of the kitchen and unfortunately he was pronounced dead at the Petersburg Medical Center.”
Indications are that Neidiffer was overcome by smoke and unable to reach his wheelchair. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Joe Viechnicki is a reporter at KFSK in Petersburg.
