CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State fire investigators examining a pair of deadly blazes in the past week say neither appeared to be suspicious at this point.
One of the fires, just outside Spencer in Roane County, left two people dead and a third recovering in the Cabell Huntington burn unit.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Jason Baltic said the fire had fully engulfed the house as a man and woman were evidently trying to reach the door. Quick thinking and bravery of an off-duty Roane County deputy and a neighbor saved her.
“Had it not been for them, she definitely would not have made it,” Baltic said.
The woman remained in stable condition on Tuesday. Baltic hoped eventually she might be able to give them additional clues of what may have started the fire. The man who was pulled form the burning home was dead at the scene and the body of another man was discovered in the ashes of the fire after it was out.
“Due to the amount of damage, we’ve narrowed it to an area in the house where there were different appliances, but we’re not able to actually figure out an exact cause,” he explained.
Baltic faced a similar investigation in Kanawha County from a Saturday morning fire on Broad Tree Road near Sissonville. There a man was killed when the fire in the remote area of Kanawha County engulfed the home well before anybody was alerted.
“Being in the middle of the night, nobody saw it until it was heavily involved in fire and by the time the fire department got there it was basically burned to the ground. We’re not able to find a cause on that one,” Baltic said.
The names of the victims in both instances are being withheld pending a positive identification from the state Medical Examiner’s office.
Baltic said there is no evidence of foul play in either fire.