Montco Boy Dies Trying To Rescue Father From Fire

NORRISTOWN, PA -- A two alarm fire in Norristown Friday morning tragically escalated when a young boy died after re-entering a burning home to look for his father, the Norristown Fire Department said.

The fire started at about 9 a.m. on Friday morning at a home on Markley Street.

Flames were bursting from windows on the first and second stories when crews arrived on the scene.

Crews quickly went into “attack mode,” officials said, and knocked down the bulk of the fire.

Five family members were inside the home when the fire started. They all escaped, but via different routes, and 12-year-old Stanford Harling returned to look for his father, officials said.

He never made it back out.

“A tragic day in Norristown,” the Norristown Fire Department said on their Facebook page. “A HERO is lost. A young boy re-enters a burning home to look for his father. Please remember to never go back in to a burning building.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Norristown, Plymouth, and Lower Providence were among several of the departments that responded to the scene.

Image courtesy Dave Jackson, the Norristown Fire Department, and the Plymouth Fire Company No 1.