Oct 26, 2014 2 min read

Joyce Hannen said her neighbor was a kind man who loved to fish.

But late Saturday, her neighbor of 27 years, Edwin A. Patten, 61, was found dead inside his burning home at 202 Fairview Ave. by South Strabane Township firefighters.

Washington County Coroner Tim Warco said the cause of death is likely smoke inhalation, but he is awaiting toxicology tests.

Flames were coming out of the windows of the one-story home in the township’s Patten area when firefighters and police arrived at the scene after getting the report of the fire about 10:30 p.m. Police believed he was still in the house because all three of his vehicles were parked outside the house.

Assistant fire Chief Jim Barnes said he could see an orange glow in the sky from the fire as he responded to the call from his home in the Pancake section of the township. Barnes said the fire had likely been burning for awhile before it was reported by a resident on an adjacent street.

Patten was found in a back bedroom. Trooper Steven Thompson, the state police fire marshal who responded with fire marshal Trooper Eric Graham, said there is no known suspicious circumstances although the cause has not been determined. The fire is believed to have started in the living room. Although kerosene and space heaters were found inside the residence, the fire marshals told township police those items are not believed to have caused the fire.

Hannen said Patten worked at The Meadows Racetrack as a caretaker for horses.

“Eddie was a very kind individual,” Hannen said Sunday afternoon of Patten, who was already living in the neighborhood when her family moved in in 1987. “If you knew Eddie, you would like Eddie. He will be sadly missed.”

Hannen called the fire and his death “unbelievable.”

Fire crews remained on the scene until about 3 a.m. Sunday. Firefighters from Chartiers Township and Washington and the Rapid Intervention Teams from Houston and Bentleyville fire departments assisted.