Pennsylvania News brief

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Fire kills two young boys in Berks County

Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say two boys were found dead after fire tore through a house in Berks County.
Firefighters were called to the home in Limekiln, in Berks County’s Exeter Township, at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday. The building was gutted by the flames, and the bodies of nine-year-old Jason Carlisle and 20-month-old Kaidyn Reppert were found on the second floor. They were pronounced dead at the scene by investigators from the Berks County coroner’s office. Neighbors say a man, a woman and two other children were able to escape. Autopsies on the victims are scheduled for Sunday.
Officials say firefighters were hampered by the lack of hydrants in the area, and tanker trucks were called in to supply water to the scene.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Man arrested on manslaughter charges
Authorities say they have arrested a suburban Philadelphia man wanted on involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the house fire that killed his 1-year-old son.
Officials say 33-year-old Thomas Pierce, of Clifton Heights, was taken into custody Saturday in southwest Philadelphia after a brief chase and returned to Delaware County.
Pierce was sleeping on a couch when an unattended gas burner in the kitchen of his home started a fire that killed Robert Pierce. Police say blood tests showed that Thomas Pierce had drugs in his system.

Maryland man dies in scuba diving accident
Authorities in central Pennsylvania say a Maryland man died while scuba diving in a quarry.
State police say the 56-year-old Sykesville resident was diving in Guppy Gulch in Peach Bottom Township on Saturday when he got into trouble and was pulled from the water by his companions.
Emergency workers were called shortly after noon, and the man was pronounced dead just before 1 p.m.

Charges pending in wrong-way accident
Authorities in Pittsburgh say charges are pending in a wrong-way crash on a highway exit ramp that killed one driver and seriously injured two others.
Police say a car heading in the wrong direction on the Fort Duquesne Bridge exit ramp collided with another vehicle exiting the bridge from Interstate 279 at about 3:11 a.m. Saturday.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office says the second driver, 27-year-old Damien Randolph, was killed. A passenger in his car was hospitalized in critical condition and a passenger in the first car was listed in serious condition.

Jury awards $3.1M in drunken driving crash
An eastern Pennsylvania jury has awarded $3.1 million in damages to the parents and estate of a 25-year-old dance teacher killed in a 2006 drunken driving crash.
The Lehigh County jury deliberated for 8 1/2 hours before finding the driver 85 percent liable for the death of ballet teacher Sheena Marie Villa. They ordered 30-year-old Robert LaBarre to pay $1.1 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. Jurors found that Villa, a passenger in LaBarre’s car, was 15 percent liable.