PATTON COUPLE DIE IN FATAL HOUSE FIRE

PATTON -- Authorities believe a Bollinger County couple were killed Wednesday morning while trying to fight a fire in their Patton house.

Charles Hurd Jr., 73, and his wife, Ruby Kathryn Hurd, 71, were found dead inside their house after much of its east side was engulfed in flames. The couple were overcome by smoke, authorities said.

State Fire Marshal Bruce Thurlo said a neighbor reported the fire to authorities around 11 a.m. and another neighbor reported Mrs. Hurd was last seen heading into the house with a bucket of water.

Thurlo said the cause of the blaze wasn't determined, but the fire began around some electrical appliances inside the house.

All the county's fire districts responded, authorities said.