Crime & Safety

House Blaze Kills Parsippany Man, 82, Cops Say

Tuesday night fire took 30 minutes to extinguish, severely damages house.

A Tuesday night house fire in the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany claimed the life of an elderly man and injured two firefighters.

Police and fire personnel received the call of a house fire on Decotah Avenue at 7:46 p.m., Officer Earl Kinsey said. Upon arrival, officers heard a man inside the home yelling for help as the home around him became engulfed in flames. Firefighters were able to bust open the door and found Donald Peloubet, 82, on the ground beneath a pile of debris, Kinsey said. 

Firefighters were able to knock back the flames while removing Peloubet from the home, Kinsey said. He was then treated and transported to St. Barnabas Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries and died.

No cause for the fire has yet been determined, Kinsey said. 

The fire took about 30 minutes to extinguish, according to nj.com, but the house was severely damaged. 


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