GULFPORT – Officials are still investigating a fire that claimed the life of an elderly couple in their home last month. Seventy-four year old James Dennis, and his wife, Patricia, 67, were killed when police said a fire broke out in their kitchen around 12:48 a.m., Feb. 15.
Ten units from the Gulfport Fire Department and nearby Biloxi responded to the blaze at 16368 South Pine Drive. Authorities said when firefighters arrived, the two-story brick structure was fully involved.
County officials also confirmed that there were no fire hydrants on Pine Drive to douse the blaze, so firefighters used pumper trucks to shuttle water to the scene, and then set up a drop tank, which resembles a small swimming pool, to hold water brought in by tanker trucks.
Witnesses said high winds only fanned the flames causing them to shoot up to 60 feet in the air, hampering efforts by the 18 firefighters on the scene to extinguish the fire.
Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said the couple’s remains were found by firefighters just inside their front door. Both died of smoke inhalation.
“It looks like they had just about made it out,” Deputy Fire Chief Billy Bragg told The Sun Herald. “They were laying in close proximity to one another.”
Authorities said the couple had an adult daughter, who recently moved to Virginia, and a Pomeranian. Fire officials were unsure at the time if the dog perished in the fire or escaped unnoticed.
Neighbors told local news agencies that the couple had lived in the home for about 16 years and that the husband retired after suffering a heart attack. His wife, they said, was a cancer survivor. Neighbors further said they were “quiet” and “friendly” people.
The fire marshal said the cause may been electrical, but the results were not conclusive.
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