Boy injured in Slickville house fire dies

SLICKVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) - A boy died after a house fire in Westmoreland County, according to the Greensburg Salem School District. 

In a letter to families, Superintendent Kenneth Bissell said fifth grader David Wayne Becker died Sunday morning. 

Becker was a fifth grader at Metzgar Elementary, Bissell said. The district will have additional counselors on Monday for any students or staff who need support. 

"Our thoughts and prayers are with David's family as they grieve the loss of their child," Bissell said. 

On Friday, Robert Rosatti, a spokesperson for the Slickville Fire Department, said crews used a thermal image camera to find the boy inside the burning home on Route 819 near Mayo Street. First responders performed CPR and he was flown to the hospital.   

A neighbor said she ran into the home to rescue the boys but there was so much smoke and fire that she couldn't see. She said the mother was on the back balcony yelling for help. 

"We had a neighbor lady that came across the street and says that the mother dropped a 2-year-old baby off the back deck to the neighbor," Rosatti said. "The neighbor caught the baby, and the mother came over the deck and the neighbor lady assisted the mother to the ground."

There's been no word on the cause of the fire, but a state police fire marshal was called in to investigate.