3 die in Christmas Eve house fire in Columbus

12/25/2011
ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS— Three people are dead following a house fire in Columbus late Christmas Eve.

Battalion Chief Michael Fowler says the blaze was reported shortly before midnight Saturday in a vacant house on the city’s west side.

But when firefighters reached the scene neighbors reported that people might be inside.

He says the fire was coming out of the first floor doors and windows.

Fowler tells The Associated Press that firefighters entered the home and found the three victims in the main fire room.

They haven’t been identified but Fowler described them as an adult male, a young adult or teenager and a child.

He says authorities are trying to determine if they lived in the home.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.