Bastrop, Tx–A residential fire June 27 on FM 969 west of Bastrop claimed the lives of an elderly couple.
The blaze was reported about 5:18 p.m. Saturday, and when firefighters arrived the wood frame structure was engulfed in flames, officials said. The structure of some 2,000 square feet in the 400 block of FM 969 collapsed before the flames could be extinguished.
After digging through the rubble until late in the evening, the bodies of 87-year-old Claude Harkins and his 86-year old wife Mary Bess Harkins were recovered by firefighters.
The fire is under investigation by the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department and the state fire marshall’s office.
Sheriff’s department investigator Arnold Gonzalez said smoking materials, possibly a cigar, may have sparked the fire.