VALDESE, N.C. — A Navy veteran was killed and two women were injured Saturday in a house fire in Valdese, authorities said.
The State Bureau of Investigation and Burke County fire marshals are trying to determine what started the fire.
The house was still on fire when firefighters arrived. They cut into a bedroom window to pull out one of the victims.
IMAGES: Navy vet dies after Valdese house fire, 2 airlifted
Carl Peterson, a Vietnam veteran, died. His wife and sister-in-law were airlifted to hospitals in Spartanburg and Winston-Salem.
"I got up this morning and I saw the flames. God, it was so surreal," said Rodney Berry, Carl Peterson's cousin. "He was just a great man, served in the military. He did his thing and he did it unconditionally."
Firefighters said there were no obvious signs of what started the fire.
The SBI is called in to investigate any fire-related fatality.
The conditions of the women who were airlifted is unknown.
WSOC
