INDUSTRY, Pa. -- Two people were killed in an early morning house fire Wednesday in Industry. Firefighters returned Wednesday night after the fire rekindled.
Beaver County 911 said the call came in at 6:12 a.m. for a fire at 109 Boyana Drive. The residents of the home were listed as Thomas E. Cronin Jr., 53, and Cara Crosby, no age given. Beaver officer Ken Stahl confirmed Cronin and Crosby were the residents of the house, but could not confirm it was their bodies taken from the house.
Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi also could not confirm the identities of the two people killed. She said they would have to be identified using dental records, which could take several days. An autopsy had not been scheduled as of Wednesday afternoon.
Stahl said the brick house was fully involved when firefighters arrived on the scene. He said the fire did not seem suspicious, and a state fire marshal was investigating to determine the cause.
Firefighters, police and medics were on the scene until about 3:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Industry, Ohioville and Midland firefighters were called out again about 9 p.m., after a small fire rekindled at the residence.
Nick Prodonovich was Cronin's neighbor, business partner and is step-father to Cronin's two daughters and his son. He said the children were still in shock, and it really hadn't hit them yet what had happened.
Prodonovich said he and Cronin had been in business together for some time. He said their initial venture was a pizza shop and bakery, and while those efforts weren't successful, the two had developed a method to get diesel fuel out of tires, and had just gotten a contract.
In fact, Prodonovich said he and Cronin were just in Cleveland and in Mercer Tuesday working on their new business, and got home very early in the morning. He said they stopped at a Sheetz store for a sandwich, and then went home around 2 a.m.
Prodonovich said Cronin was excited about a recent vacation to Florida. He described Cronin as a Christian and a good person, though he had had his ups and downs.
Cronin had been charged with attempted homicide and aggravated assault in May 2010 after he got into a fight with an Ohioville man, Dale Kitzmiller, and Cronin hit Kitzmiller with a hatchet. Those charges were dropped in November 2011 when Kitzmiller refused to testify at a trial.
Most recently Cronin was placed in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time offenders after being charged with possession of a controlled substance. Aliquippa police said he was found unconscious in a car in March with 20 stamp bags of heroin.
Copyright 2012 - Beaver County Times, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
