Fire kills elderly Perryville woman

An elderly Perryville woman died early Thursday in a mobile home fire, Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said.

The blaze killed Sarah Hanks, 85, who lived in the mobile home at 88 Amber Lane, in Perryville, Schaaf said.

The sheriff's department was notified of the structure fire at 3:44 a.m.

"Upon arrival, deputies saw a mobile home engulfed in fire and were met by a female stating her mother was trapped inside the residence," Schaaf said in a news release.

Law enforcement, fire and emergency medical personnel "were unable to get close enough" to try to locate and rescue Hanks because of the intense heat, the sheriff said.

Schaaf said the cause of the fire "is believed to be of an electrical nature." The Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office has been called to investigate in an effort to determine the cause, he said.