Three found dead in abandoned house fire

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Three people were found dead in an abandoned house fire Tuesday morning.

The incident happened in the area of West 8th Street and Virginia Avenue in Huntington.

The house was singed but is still standing.

Crews were called to the house at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday for what was originally a smoke investigation.

When firefighters arrived on scene, the home was heavily consumed with fire.

Fire chief Greg Fuller said although the home was abandoned, investigators found three victims inside.

“First arriving crews were met with heavy smoke and fire at what was supposed to have been an abandoned structure in the 300 block of West 8th Street,” Fuller said. “Upon entering the structure to extinguish the fire and contain that, three victims were deceased and discovered inside the structure.”

The Huntington City Fire Marshal, the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Huntington Police Department, and a medical examiner were all on scene assisting with the investigation.

“City Fire Marshal will be working with the other investigators to do an origin and cause of the fire, and the investigators will process the scene appropriately and see where the facts lead,” Fuller said.

April Tardy, a resident that lives around the corner from the abandoned house told 911 operators that the fire was moving rapidly.

“Walked out to the dumpster which is just around the corner there was nothing but as soon as we started heading back all of the sudden it just went up in flames and got within seconds so smokey you couldn’t breathe. Like I was choking trying to get from the corner back to my door”, Tardy said.

The names of the victims haven’t been released.

We asked Fuller if the victims were the residents of this house or potentially unhoused people using the house.

He told us the identities of the victims is still being investigated.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to police.

Previous coverage can be found here.