Friday, August 17, 2012

Three reported dead in Cameron, Mo., house fire - KansasCity.com

Authorities responding to a report of a fire in Cameron in northwest Missouri find bodies but no blaze.

By MATT CAMPBELL

The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star

Updated: 2012-08-18T03:55:23Z

Three people were found dead in a house in Cameron, Mo., on Friday after authorities were called to check on a fire and possible victims.

The call came at 4:41 p.m. But when police and firefighters arrived at the house at 113 E. Fourth St., they found no blaze but a “smoke-like odor,” according to Patrolman Heath Henry, spokesman for the Cameron Police Department.Officers then found the three victims inside the residence.Henry would not take questions at a news conference Friday night and did not release the names of the victims or reveal how they died, saying the investigation was ongoing. Another news conference was scheduled for this morning.According to media reports, the victims were a man in his 30s and two children, thought to be ages 6 and 8.Reached by telephone Friday night, John Michael told The Kansas City Star that he knew the man who lived at the house. He said the man worked at a factory in Cameron, which is about 50 miles north of Kansas City on Interstate 35.Michael said that his friend’s children, a boy and a girl, did not live at the house but that they visited their father.“He loved his kids and he loved his family,” Michael said. “He would do anything for them.”Michael said that he had been inside the house several times and that he had never seen any volatile substances.

To reach Matt Campbell, call 816-234-4902 or send email to mcampbell@kcstar.com.