Father and son killed in Mercer County house fire

BLUEWELL, W.Va. (AP) - A father and son have died in a Mercer County house fire that started in a downstairs bedroom.

Kathy Hamm tells the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (https://bit.ly/2lslQOs) that her 89-year-old father Hubert Stepp and her 54-year-old brother Benjamin Stepp died in the blaze early Tuesday in Bluewell.

Hamm says the fire started in her bedroom after she turned on her oxygen compressor. She says she thought at first she had put the small fire out and left the room to get a glass of water and a mop. By the time she returned, the fire had grown. Both victims lived in upstairs bedrooms.

Assistant State Fire Marshal Scott Rodes said the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. The home has been declared a total loss.

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Information from: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, https://www.bdtonline.com