Victim of fatal fire at Mt. Pleasant Township mobile home has been identified

A 66-year-old Mt. Pleasant Township woman died early Friday morning when her mobile home was destroyed by fire, according to the the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office.

The victim, Victoria L. Garsteck, of 216 Thomas St., in the village of Calumet, was pronounced dead at the scene, the coroner’s office said.

Calumet Fire Chief Dan Sterf, who lives a street away from the mobile home, said when he and another firefighter arrived on the scene shortly after receiving the alarm at 1:15 a.m., flames had already reached the front door.

“The front end of the home was fully involved (in flames”,” said Sterf, who went to the house before the fire trucks arrived.

Sterf said he figured Garsetck might be home at that time and went to the rear of the mobile home, where the bedroom was located, but could not enter there as well.

“The windows were popping and the fire was hot,” Sterf said. “The trailers can burn in a few minutes.”

When the fire trucks arrived, they were able to bring the fire under control. All five fire companies in Mt. Pleasant Township, as well as firefighters from Mt. Pleasant Borough and Pleasant Unity, assisted at the scene, Sterf said.

A state police fire marshal went to the scene in the middle of the night, Sterf said.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

The fire rekindled just after 6 a.m. and required fire crews to return, according to the Westmoreland County Department of Public Safety.

A neighbor, Chuck Naggy, described Garsteck as a good person and a good neighbor.

Another Calumet resident, Mike Haggerty, described Garsetck as a friendly person, who was friends with his sister who lives near Garsteck’s mobile home. Hagerty said his sister’s children called her, “Aunt Vicky.”