The Associated Press
ROCKWOOD, Tenn. - An early morning fire burned an eastern Tennessee home to the ground, killing six people, four of them children, authorities said.
Two youngsters were spending the night with James Monroe, 31, his wife, Demerius, 29, and their two children when the fire started around 2 a.m. Saturday, investigators said.
Roane County Emergency Management Director Howie Rose said that when the Rockwood Fire Department arrived, the house was engulfed in flames.
On Sunday, little remained of the home but its foundation and fireplace.
Investigators were still searching for the cause of the fire. They ruled out foul play and were trying to determine if a natural gas line to the house might have been involved, said Scott Stout, spokesman for Roane County Emergency Management.
Next-door neighbor Charles Wiley said he and another neighbor tried to alert the family to the blaze but couldn’t get a response.
“I threw a rock through the front window, but I couldn’t get in,” Wiley told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
He said that when the parents of the two children staying with the Monroes arrived, police had to restrain them. “The cops were holding them back, saying there was nothing you can do,” Wiley said.
Rockwood, a town of about 5,500 residents, is 40 miles west of Knoxville.
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