The storms brought down trees and power lines all across the area, and then a fire started raging in the 600 block of Morris Lane in Nether Providence Township.
Heartbreaking eyewitness video of the house fire on 600 block of Morris Lane in Wallingford. PD say power line fell the same time fire started @6abc pic.twitter.com/kJBSry2xkm
— Jaclyn Lee (@JaclynLeeTV) June 3, 2020
"Basically the sky was black, the power went off, then the power came on, and you heard that surge that kind of transmitter type sound, and then literally within 20-30 seconds the fire was here," said Debbie Decolli.
Two men lived in the home, and neighbors say they were brothers. While one died, the other managed to escape.
"I was basically in shock because it's not every day you see a house on fire, and then I heard someone may have still been inside so I was also concerned about that," said Jamal Huff.
Police chief on scene confirms one person made it out, the other person did not. He was pronounced dead on scene. Preliminary reports of power line causing fire but not confirmed @6abc pic.twitter.com/EMH1J7FgKC
— Jaclyn Lee (@JaclynLeeTV) June 3, 2020
The call came in at 12:39 p.m. South Media and Garden City fire companies responded, along with five assisting fire companies in the area
"When we arrived it was fire showing," said Nether Providence Police Chief David Splain. "One individual was already extricated from the building, the second individual trapped inside the building."
The man who survived is at a local hospital. The other was pronounced dead at the scene.
Fire officials are investigating, but say preliminary reports indicate the cause of the fire could possibly be a downed power line.