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Fatal fire victims identified

By Brian Hagen

02/27/2018

Credit: Jackson County Sheriff's Office

(KAIR)--The two victims of a fatal February 16 Netawaka house fire have been identified publicly.

Jackson County Sheriff Tim Morse Tuesday identified the two occupants of the home as 55-year-old Richard Willits and 47-year-old Denise Willits.

A press release issued by Morse says identification follows the completion of autopsies.

The bodies of the victims were recovered in the wreckage of the 421 Whiteway Street home that was devastated by a late morning fire.

More than a dozen fire departments from surrounding areas responded to the scene shortly after 10:00, and found the two-story home fully engulfed in flames.

The crews worked to bring the fatal fire under control in a little more than an hour.

A family dog was rescued from the blaze.

Morse says the investigation into the cause of the blaze continues, with fire investigators from his office working with the Kansas State Fire Marshal's Office, to determine what happened.

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