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Last updated on Thursday, February 7, 2013
(SULPHUR) - Authorities have released the names of three of the five people killed in an overnight mobile home fire in southern Indiana.
The Associated Press reports, Crawford County Sheriff Tim Wilkerson says 32-year-old John Denton died in Thursday's fire along with his 8-year-old daughter, Kara Denton, and his 35-year-old half brother, Bill Turben.
John Denton's girlfriend and her 3-year-old son also died, but police have not released their names.
Wilkerson says a wood stove that was serving as the home's sole source of heat is suspected of causing the 12:30 a.m. fire near the small village of Sulphur, about 30 miles west of Louisville, Ky. The State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the fire.
A relative says the rural mobile home had a furnace but John Denton wasn't using it to hold down his bills.
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(SULPHUR) - Two children and three adults died in a mobile home fire in a remote rural area of southern Indiana early Thursday, and authorities are exploring the possibility that the blaze was sparked by a wood stove.
County Emergency Management Director Larry Allen said the fire, which was reported at 1 a.m., killed all the occupants of the mobile home near the small village of Sulphur, about 30 miles west of Louisville.
Crawford County Sheriff Tim Wilkerson told WDRB-TV that two half-brothers and a girlfriend of one of the men died, along with the 8-year-old daughter of one of the brothers and the woman's 3-year-old son.
Wilkerson gathered the victims' relatives in a circle with a chaplain to deliver news of the tragedy.
A neighbor spotted the blaze and tried to rescue the residents, Allen said.
"He saw the flames but by the time he got to the house it was engulfed. He tried to get in but couldn't because of the flames," Allen said. "It's really tragic -- an 8-year-old and a 3-year-old, and three adults."
He said the county coroner and members of the State Fire Marshal's office were at the scene. Allen said fire officials believe a wood stove used to heat the home started the fire, but are still investigating.
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