Fatal house fire victim identified
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office has released the name of a man who died in a house fire in the town of King Thursday. The victim has been identified as the homeowner, 70-year-old Kenneth Pietila.
At 1:34 p.m. Thursday, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a 911 call of a structure fire on Pine Shore Lane in the town of King.
A man who had come to the residence to snowplow the driveway reported fire coming from the house. When a deputy and the Tomahawk Fire Chief arrived at the scene, they confirmed there was an active fire in the residence that was spreading quickly. After learning that Pietila was wheelchair bound and possibly inside, Tomahawk firefighters conducted an interior attack and searched the structure, finding him inside the residence. Pietila was removed from the home, but it was apparent he was beyond life-saving measures, according to a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office report.
The Tomahawk and Nokomis fire departments responded to the scene and worked to extinguish the fire before bringing it under control. Tomahawk EMS also assisted at the scene.
A fire marshal from the Wisconsin Department of Justice responded to the scene to investigate the fire and the victim was taken to the William S. Middleton VA Medical Center in Madison for an autopsy on Friday by the Lincoln County Coroner.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the fire marshal along with detectives from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.