Jackson couple killed in morning blaze

A young Jackson couple was trapped and killed in a fire in the early minutes of Tuesday morning.

A blaze broke out in the basement of Kenneth Koehler's home at 516 Morgan and killed his son, Gabe Koehler, 20, and the son's 18-year-old girlfriend, who is a senior at Jackson High School.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner Mike Hurst said the tentative cause of death was smoke inhalation.

"They were in the basement, trapped by the fire and could not get out," he said. "They were in the back bedroom and the fire was in front of them and they had no exit."

Firefighters responded to a call at 12:13 a.m. and found the home engulfed with smoke and with heavy fire coming from the basement area.

Jackson fire chief Brad Golden said he called for mutual aid from Cape Girardeau. Twenty-four Jackson firefighters responded to the blaze, Golden said, along with four ambulance personnel, eight Jackson police officers and four or five from the sheriff's department.

Firefighters left the scene at 7:30 a.m.