kmov.com Web  




Just Posted

Second victim of Metro-East house fire dies

01:09 PM CDT on Thursday, March 13, 2008

Photos from the scene

  WOOD RIVER, Ill. (AP) -- A Metro-East house fire has claimed a second life.

  A spokesman for St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Missouri says 83-year-old Cecil Burrus died Wednesday, a day after he was injured in the Wood River fire.

Watch raw video

  Burrus' 74-year-old wife, Patricia, died at the scene.

  Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn says the Burruses lived in the home's basement, with other family members apparently occupying the upstairs.

  Nonn says Patricia Burrus detected the smell of smoke in the home before the fire was reported.

  The coroner says investigators believe the woman died of smoke inhalation.

  There's no word yet on what caused the blaze.

  (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)