Family: Boy, 12, killed after rescue attempt in Pennsylvania fire
NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- Family members say a 12-year-old boy died after running into a burning home in Norristown in an attempt to save his father.
The blaze broke out at 8:54 a.m. Friday inside a three story twin home on the 1000 block of Markley Street.
Action News is told crews arrived on the scene to find heavy flames coming from the first and second floors.
Fire officials say there were five family members in the home at the time of the blaze.
Witnesses said some had to jump out windows to survive.
Tree Alexander tells us, "The family was jumping out the back window. At one point they realized somebody else was in there and they turned and tried to run back in, and the neighbors were actually pulling them back to keep them from coming in because there still weren't any cops here."
But one family member did get back inside - he perished in the fire.
The deceased is identified as 12-year-old Stanford Harling, nicknamed "Man-Man."
Stanford's grandfather, Kenneth Peterson, said the boy was among the five family members in all who made it out safely, but heroically charged back into the house because his father was unable to scramble to safety right away.
Peterson explains, "Once we got out we thought that her husband, his father, was still in there. His father just had hip surgery, so he can't move around. And Man-Man ran back in there to help his dad. The father ended up jumping out the second floor window. Man-Man got caught up in there."
Firefighters tried to find Stanford but they were initially beaten back by the flames. They eventually found the boy face down under the kitchen table.
So far, there is no word on the cause of the blaze.
