COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Fire officials in the eastern Nebraska city of Columbus say a stray ember from a wood-burning fireplace sparked a house fire over the weekend that killed four people.
The Nebraska State Fire Marshal's office says in a news release that 27-year-old Lars Barcel and 28-year-old Janelle Miller died in the fire, along with two children whose names were not released Monday.
Officials say the fire broke out Saturday morning in a house in the heart of Columbus, which is about 70 miles west of Omaha.
Firefighters pulled all four from the house and rushed them to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
State Fire Marshal’s investigators and Columbus police determined that the ember ignited nearby combustible materials.