ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Two people died Thursday morning in a fire at a home in St. Charles County.
New Melle Fire Chief Kevin Martin told 5 On Your Side the fire call came in overnight, and crews arrived to find heavy flames on the side of a house in the 800 block of Tall Cedar Court.
Martin said since the flames came up through the floor, the fire presumably began in the basement of the home and climbed to the two upstairs bedrooms.
According to a post on Facebook from the New Melle Fire Protection District, as firefighters made it to an upstairs bedroom to search, the floor began to collapse. Crews tackled the fire, reentered the home and were able to locate an elderly couple in a bathroom.
The couple, identified by St. Charles County police as Kenneth and Phyllis Zerr, both 84 years old, died in the fire.
The home suffered heavy fire damage to the bedrooms, but the damage throughout the rest of the home wasn't "too bad," Martin said.
The State Fire Marshal began an investigation into the fire Thursday.
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