Hazard, KY – Jackson County fire leaves a man and his wife dead and fire officials say it may have started after a propane gas leak.
Three fire departments worked together through the morning hours to put out what they called a very intense fire.
The fire killed 79 year old Geraldine Lundsford and 77 year old Riccie Goble, two people who neighbors say were always looking to help others out.
Neighbors say they heard a big bang around 1:00 Thursday morning.
She first called up here and said “Mommy what’s going on up there?”, something shook her house, Walter W. Hammond said.
Fire crews say the explosion was probably caused by propane gas that was found in the area.
It’s under investigation of course, but they thought maybe that it was a propane heater that they had recently installed. Maybe had a leak or something, Kenneth Davenport, Sand Gap Fire Department.
Now evidently some fumes had leaked in from somewhere, we still don’t know. We know that’s what it was. Now whether dad lit a cigarette, or he went over and tried to turn that other heater on, Davenport said.
Family members say Geraldine Lundsford was mostly confined to chair, and was likely asleep in the bedroom at the time of the fire.
Riccie Goble was on the floor of the living room.
One of the family members had gotten in the house and in the fire and had gotten his father out, Davenport said.
Goble was flown to UK hospital.
Family member tell us Goble was taken off life support and later died.
Mooney says it will be hard for him and his wife to look at the burned out house every day.
There were two more large propane tanks near the house, and he’s lucky the fire did not spread to those tanks.