Feb. 26--An elderly husband and wife killed in a raging overnight house fire in Methuen were apparently trying to escape the inferno when they died, state Fire Marshal Stephen Coan told the Herald.
"They were not in beds. They were found in different places," Coan said from the scene of the devastation on Buttonwood Drive. "There is a possibility that they were trying to escape the fire, but succumbed."
The couple, who Coan said are in their late 70s and early 80s, remained in the smoldering wreckage this morning and have not been positively identified, pending autopsies. Officials suspect the fire started in an attached garage.
It's unclear whether there were working smoke detectors in the house.
"The fire's actually still burning -- hot spots," Coan said. "The investigation really hasn't even commenced. There is extreme damage to the building. It will be a very difficult investigation."
Eleven people have died in fires this year across the state, Coan said, including a 90-year-old South Boston man, who succumbed Monday to fatal injuries he suffered in a triple-decker fire Saturday night caused by an electrical short.
Coan said the single-family ranch-style home in Methuen, which sits atop a hill, was found in flames shortly after 3 a.m. by a police officer out on patrol.
By the time the blaze was noticed and firefighters could arrive, Coan said, "The building was almost fully involved. They did a very heroic job trying to make entry to the building to make rescues."
Water and sub-freezing conditions have left the work area "a skating rink," he said.
This fiscal year for the first time, Coan said his office has been able to gift funding to 200 fire departments to enable firefighters to interact with councils on aging and senior centers to educate elders about fire safety.
"I think it's going to pay great dividends to us in the future," he said. "The fact is the elderly are a very vulnerable population to fires and fire fatalities in our state. We're not dealing with out-of- control arson fires. The vast majority of these are preventable fires by accidental causes."
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