Elderly man killed in Burke County house fire identified

BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — Police are investigating after an elderly man died in a house fire Tuesday night in Burke County.

Firefighters were called to the home on Piney Road, near Highway 64, in the Chesterfield community of Morganton around 7:30 p.m. and found flames and smoke coming from the center of the structure.

[PHOTOS: Man dead in Burke County house fire]

The front of the home was completely burned down.

Ahead on @wsoctv #Daybreak at 5 The latest on a fire in Burke Co. where firefighters found one dead. https://t.co/cvO2LeL7K3 pic.twitter.com/QHdcg6giOt
— Blaine Tolison (@BTolisonWSOC9) February 8, 2017

It took three different fire departments two hours to get the flames under control, and once they did, firefighters found the the body of 74-year-old Ben Weatherford inside.

Investigators believe the fire started near a wood stove that family members said Weatherford used to heat the home.

"It gutted it out,” Weatherford’s nephew Eddie Woods said. “They said it started in the living room but it gutted it out. There (is not anything) in it left."

He said his uncle lived there much of his life.

Several people Channel 9 spoke with were stunned by the amount of damage the fire caused.

"It's just heartbreaking,” said Verna Church, a family member. “There was nobody no better. He would do anything for anybody. He was just a wonderful man."

"I have a lot of childhood memories inside that home,” the victim’s niece Heather Flynn said. “He was always willing to help. He was a loving and caring person."

One firefighter was taken to the hospital for respiratory problems but is expected to be OK.

Fire investigators believe the fire started near the wood stove.

Both the SBI and the Burke County fire marshal are investigating, and the home was deemed at total loss.

Law enforcement sources told Channel 9 that investigators have not find anything suspicious about the fire.

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