Fire Investigators Release Identity of Bethel Fire Victim

The Bethel man who was killed in a house fire this morning is identified as 39-year-old Joshua Piawlock. Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland says the man’s body was found in his second floor bedroom and that an autopsy showed he died of smoke inhalation.

The fire was discovered by Piawlock’s longtime girlfriend, 52-year-old Lucinda Bilodeau. She escaped through a first floor door. Their 18-year-old son Eric escaped through a second floor window onto a porch roof. Both suffered minor smoke inhalation and Bilodeau had some minor burns.

Fire investigators say the blaze that gutted the two story house on Elm Street began with some faulty electrical wiring in a wall on the first floor. Investigators say there was no indication that the smoke detectors in the house were working.