Woman, Daughter Killed in Rural Wisconsin House Fire
Source Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
A 16-year-old girl and her mother perished when a fire broke out in a rural Osceola, Wis., home on Tuesday morning.
A third person -- an elderly man -- apparently escaped the blaze and was transported to Osceola Hospital.
"His condition is unknown, but is not believed to be serious at this time," the Polk County sheriff's office said in a statement later Tuesday.
The Osceola Sun reported on its website Tuesday evening that the man was later transferred to a Twin Cities hospital with medical issues unrelated to the fire.
Attributing its information to the sheriff's office, the newspaper said the man was out walking his dog and returned home to find the house engulfed in flames. The man was reported to be the father of the woman and the grandfather of the girl.
According to the Associated Press, fire investigators found one body in the ruins of the two-story wood-frame house in the Town of Osceola about 2 p.m. The second body was found about 5:30 p.m.
The identities of the victims have yet to be released pending determination by medical examiners.
Law enforcement officers and firefighters responded to a 911 call at about 7 a.m. The home, located on 240th Street near Wisconsin 35, was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Authorities were told the mother and daughter could still be inside the house, and they searched for their bodies throughout the day.
The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, the sheriff's office said. The
state fire marshal's office was called to the scene.
According to the Sun, crews used a backhoe to raze the house and find the victims.
The newspaper also reported that another school-age family member spent Monday night at another relative's home and was not at the residence at the time of the fire.
Copyright 2012 - Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
