Several Lehigh County fire companies responded to a two-alarm house fire in the Alton Park neighborhood of western Salisbury Township Sept. 18.

While a firefighter was able to use a ground ladder to rescue a woman trapped on the second floor of the dwelling in the 3000 block of Essex Road, her husband Richard Omick, 59, was found deceased on a lower level of the home.

Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Company firefighters received the fire call at 8:36 p.m. while they were in the midst of a Monday evening drill night training session at the department’s Eisenhower Station. The 911 dispatch said the fire involved “entrapment” of a resident.

Western Salisbury Volunteer Fire Chief Joshua Wells and Salisbury Township Police were first on the scene and found a woman leaning out of a second-floor window with smoke billowing around her.

Andy Carr, a longtime Northampton County firefighter and professional arborist, who was conducting the WSVFC training session, accompanied Wells to the scene.

Carr scaled a ladder provided by a neighbor, helped the woman out of the dwelling and carried her to the ground where an ambulance crew treated her at the scene.

Arriving firefighters immediately entered the burning dwelling for fire suppression and to search for another possible victim.

While Omick was found in the search, he was already deceased. A Lehigh County deputy coroner pronounced Omick dead shortly after 9 p.m.

Interior and exterior firefighters from Salisbury and neighboring mutual aid companies knocked down the fire quickly, Wells said.

Fire crews were on the scene from Eastern Salisbury Fire Department, Emmaus Fire Department, Lower Macungie Fire Department and the Cetronia, Woodlawn and Greenawalds fire stations from South Whitehall and from the City of Allentown.

Crews from Cetronia Ambulance and Macungie Ambulance Corps were on scene to provide medical services and to aid firefighters with hydration and energy snacks.

Eastern Salisbury fire police controlled access to the scene.

Wells praised the efforts of his WSVFC crew and the firefighters from the mutual aid fire departments “who worked very well together.

“While we always dread a situation where someone loses their life,” Wells said, “the fact that we were able to rescue a resident shows that the almost endless hours of training that are part of becoming a firefighter provide a huge community value.”

After an autopsy Sept. 20, the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office determined the cause of Omick’s death was smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. The manner of death is pending as the fire investigation is conducted by the Salisbury Police Department’s fire inspection office, the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.