Two Adults, Child Killed in Easton Fire

Written by Tom Coombe

A 24-year-old woman and her 4-year-old son are among three people killed in a fire early Monday in an Easton home that had no working smoke detectors.

It was the first fatal fire in the city in 12 years, Fire Chief John Bast said a few hours after firefighters extinguished the blaze in the 724 Spring Garden St.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office identified one of the victims as Joy A. Lozier, 24, of the second floor of the home. She was pronounced dead at 7:30 a.m. Monday at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest. The coroner's office said she died of body burns. Her death was ruled an accident. 

Two other people were pronounced dead at the scene. One was Lozier's f4-year-old son Makai Peters, Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said Monday evening. The other is believed to be 25-year-old James Strickland, although Lysek said authorities are working to confirm that identification.

The cause and manner of death on both Peters and Strickland are pending their autopsies and other tests.

Three more people were hospitalized, Bast said—two with smoke inhalation and another burn victim. A neighbor said a person taken out of the home was on fire.

"Burns are never good and these particularly weren't good," he said.

The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m.

Neighbor Jason Soto told Patch he rescued a young boy from the third floor but was prevented by smoke from rescuing a woman and another child.

He said he woke up when he heard glass breaking and ran outside with his son.

"We came outside and the next thing I hear is 'Fire! Fire!'" Soto told Patch at the scene as he waited to get back into his home. 

He looked up to see a woman leaning out of the third-floor window with a small boy, whom Soto said couldn't have been more than 2.

"She's yelling 'Take the kid! Take the kid!'" Soto said. 

Soto climbed onto his roof, got the boy, then handed him down to his son. He tried to get into the house to get to the woman and her other child, but the smoke got to be too much. That's when the firefighters arrived.

Soto and his family stood huddled on a corner. His son Martin had no shoes, and had pieces of cloth wrapped around his feet. A firefighter came up and shook Soto's hand. "Great job," he said.

One neighbor, who declined to give his name, described seeing flames shooting from the windows of the building.

"They carried one person out and that body was on fire," he said. "They said she was still alive. I don't know how."

Bast said the fire started on the second floor of the home, near the clothes dryer. The cause is still under investigation, but does not appear to be suspicious.

He said the home did not appear to have smoke detectors, something required by the city code.

"They may have been taken down and just not replaced," Bast said.

He stressed that all homeowners need to have smoke detectors, and that the fire department will provide and install them for free.

Property records show the home is owned by Ellen Moskella of Bethlehem Township.

A small memorial of candles and flowers was set up Monday in the grass in front of the home, amidst a sea of glass shards. 

It was the second fire in the city in less than 24 hours. On Sunday morning, a fire displaced one person on Folk Street on the South Side.