Man Dies in Wilson Fire

A fire Thursday morning in Wilson left one man dead, according to borough fire chief Michael Collins.

Smoke and flames severely damaged the twin homes at 1512 and 1514 Lehigh St., just across the Easton-Wilson border.

Officials have not released the name of the victim but neighbors say Bill Richebacher lived in the residence at 1514, which was the more severely damaged of the two homes. Richebacher is believed to be roughly 80 years old.

The office said they will release the name of the man who died in the fire on Friday, following an autopsy.

But on Thursday, people on the 1500 block of Lehigh Street were already in mourning for Richebacher, a longtime resident of the street remembered as a cheerful, helpful neighbor.

"He was a good friend. He was such a good friend," said Shirl Grover, her face streaked with tears. 

He'd make sure smoke detectors were installed in her home, and even bought her a motion light to ward off potential burglars.

"He was so worried about everybody," said Grover, who lived across the street, and estimated she knew Richebacher for 40 years.

James Rogers, another neighbor, said that Richebacher was still pretty active; you'd see him walking around the borough. They knew each other just to chat, mostly about football. Rogers is a Redskins man; Richebacher followed the Eagles. A half-melted Eagles flag hung from his charred front porch.

Firefighters rescued pets from the home 1512 Lehigh Street. They were taken to the vet by their owners. The heat of the fire appeared to have scorched the siding on the home at 1516 Lehigh Street, but it was unclear how much damage the fire had actually caused to surrounding properties.

State police fire marshals are on the scene, along with the Northampton County Coroner's office. The fire call came in around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The fire was under control before noon. Firefighters from Easton were also on the scene.

Neighbors reported seeing huge clouds of smoke and hearing popping noises as windows shattered. One man said he thought it was snowing until he realized there was a fire; the material he thought was snow was actually ash.

Will Sucigan A neighbor who came home from his workplace in New Jersey said his first concern was the major fire in Allentown two weeks ago that destroyed a whole block and killed five people.

"I wanted to make sure it wasn't one of those episodes," Sucigan said. He said the smoke was visible from across the river, although he noted that from where he was looking, much of the city is visible.

Patch freelance contributor Christina Georgiou contributed to this story.