LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A fire that killed two adults and five children earlier this month in southern Kentucky burned so hot they are unable to determine its cause, investigators told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
State Fire Marshal spokesman Dick Brown and Kentucky State Trooper Shane Jacobs said arson investigators weren't able to find the exact cause of the March 9 fire and, because of extreme damage to the house, are unlikely to come to a final determination.
Brown said, however, that the fire was accidental and investigators had ruled out arson and foul play.
Jacobs said it appears the blaze burned so hot, little evidence was left behind.
"That's the problem, I think," Jacobs said.
The fire killed 27-year-old Jesse Disney; his fiancDee, 22-year-old Nina Asher; her three children, 3-year-old William Gray Jr., 2-year-old Camden Gray and 8-month-old Abigail Gray; and family friends who were staying over, 2-year-old Paiten Cox and 2-year-old Brielle Cox.
Officials said all seven died from smoke inhalation.
In the days after the fire, charred photos, books, children's art, broken glass and pieces of the collapsed roof littered the lawn outside the house near Disney's relatives.
The home in Gray, near the city of Corbin, sat off a narrow road near where much of Disney's family lives. The rural area is populated with brick homes, trailers and small farms.
The area contains the homes of so many family members that it's nicknamed "Disneyland."
The blaze shook the rural community in the foothills of Appalachia near the Daniel Boone National Forest and the Tennessee and Virginia state lines.
