COOLEEMEE, N.C. (April 19, 2022) — Four people, including two children, died in a fire that erupted in a North Carolina home on Monday, authorities said.
Davie County Sheriff J.D. Hartman told reporters that investigators believe that a father, mother and their two young children died in the house fire in Cooleemee, a town approximately 35 miles southwest of Winston-Salem.
Hartman said autopsies could help investigators determine the cause of their deaths.
A driver passing the house saw smoke, drove to Cooleemee’s fire department and reported the fire, according to the sheriff. Firefighters found the four bodies when they entered the house to extinguish the blaze.
Firefighters got the fire under control before 3 p.m.
Hartman said the exterior of the house is “OK,” but the interior is “heavily damaged.”
Authorities will be at the scene all night, he added, and the investigation will continue Tuesday morning.
Several fire departments helped the Cooleemee Volunteer Fire Department. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Davie County Fire Marshall are helping with the investigation.
Authorities are working to confirm the cause of death.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
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Source: AP News and WXII12 contributed to the article.