CROSS LANES, W.Va. — An elderly Kanawha County couple is dead as a result of an early morning fire Thursday at their Cross Lanes home.
The victims are identified as William Wade, 85, and his wife, Elfriede Wade, also 85. The Wades, who were not very mobile, according to investigators, perished when flames engulfed their home around 2 a.m.
“Minutes after the call went out, when they showed up on the scene it was heavily involved with a lot of fire. It damaged a house that was quite a bit away with the radiant heat,” said Kanawha County Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman. “They had a very, very serious fire within minutes of the call going out.”
Family members were already at the scene when the fire department arrived and indicated the couple was inside, but by then the fire was too intense to execute a rescue attempt, according to firefighters..
“They were out there saying,’We know they’re there. They’re elderly and they haven’t gone anywhere,'” said Sigman. “They operated on the premise they were in there.”
The bodies were recovered several hours after the fire.
The state Fire Marshal is investigating and reports extensive damage. The cause of the fire is officially undetermined. Sigman said initially it would appear the fire started in what would be the living room area of the house, but it was hard to know for sure.
“We know about where it possibly started because of where the worst damage was at, but that’s not always 100 percent because there are always variables there,” Sigman added. “It looked like as you’re facing the house to the left size, but again there are other variables there.”
The couple was found in separate rooms of the house, where they were expected to be. Sigman indicated there didn’t appear there was any effort to escape the burning home.
Investigators were unable to find any smoke detectors in the home.