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Victim identified in deadly fire near Gilboa
February 16, 2012 6:59 PM
GILBOA — The mystery over who died in a farmhouse fire Wednesday near Gilboa has been solved.
Putnam County Sheriff Jim Beutler said Charles E. Nash, 63, of 9400 Road 5H, was killed in the blaze. Beutler said the identification was made by latent fingerprint experts at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation on Thursday.
Officials on Wednesday said they could not positively identify the individual found dead in a kitchen of the house. At the time, officials could only say Nash, the sole occupant of the home, was missing.
“When it comes to a fire investigation, there's two things you look for are cause and origin. A third thing is whether there's anything suspicious,” Beutler said. “The cause of the fire is one thing that won't be able to be determined. It burned so intense and so hot there's nothing there evidence-wise to determine the cause of the fire.”
Beutler said the Division of State Fire Marshal, which was called to investigate the fire, determined the fire started in a bedroom.
The fire was reported at 1:16 p.m. Wednesday and completely destroyed the structure, officials said. Beutler said that while the exact cause likely will never be known, no foul play was suspected.
“We don't believe there was any foul play involved,” he said. “It's probably going to be listed as undetermined, probably accidental, but undetermined. If you can't determine the cause you can't really say one way or the other.”
Four departments in all — Gilboa, Ottawa, Leipsic and Pandora — battled the blaze.
You can comment on this story online at www.limaohio.com.
Putnam County Sheriff Jim Beutler said Charles E. Nash, 63, of 9400 Road 5H, was killed in the blaze. Beutler said the identification was made by latent fingerprint experts at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation on Thursday.
Officials on Wednesday said they could not positively identify the individual found dead in a kitchen of the house. At the time, officials could only say Nash, the sole occupant of the home, was missing.
“When it comes to a fire investigation, there's two things you look for are cause and origin. A third thing is whether there's anything suspicious,” Beutler said. “The cause of the fire is one thing that won't be able to be determined. It burned so intense and so hot there's nothing there evidence-wise to determine the cause of the fire.”
Beutler said the Division of State Fire Marshal, which was called to investigate the fire, determined the fire started in a bedroom.
The fire was reported at 1:16 p.m. Wednesday and completely destroyed the structure, officials said. Beutler said that while the exact cause likely will never be known, no foul play was suspected.
“We don't believe there was any foul play involved,” he said. “It's probably going to be listed as undetermined, probably accidental, but undetermined. If you can't determine the cause you can't really say one way or the other.”
Four departments in all — Gilboa, Ottawa, Leipsic and Pandora — battled the blaze.
You can comment on this story online at www.limaohio.com.
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