Elderly Collinsburg couple killed in fire
By Joe Napsha
Trib Total Media
An elderly couple died in a fire that destroyed their home early Sunday morning in the Rostraver Township village of Collinsburg.
The husband and wife, Marie A. Oblak, 81, and her husband, Lloyd D. Oblak, 83, were found inside their home at 808 Collinsburg Road, the Westmoreland County Coroner’s office said. They were pronounced dead at the scene at around 5 a.m., and the manner and cause of their deaths are pending their autopsies, the coroner said.
The couple were trapped inside their home, which was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene at about 2 a.m., said Collinsburg Fire Chief Joel Koricich.
The couple were the parents of one of the Collinsburg firefighters, Koricich said.
“We know them well,” he said.
Because the fire had spread through the house, Koricich said “we could only fight a tactical (defensive) fire, because it was so fully involved” in flames. The chief, who lives about a half-mile from the house, said “you could see the glow in the sky” when he left his home to fight the fire.
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