Two die in house fire

We don’t have details on this story yet. There was a fire overnight at the Rohr residence on Pearl Street in Morenci. Two victims were removed from the house this morning about 8 a.m.

Television stations are reporting that a father and 12-year-old son died in the fire and the other three family members were rescued by neighbors.

I heard the report of an explosion related to the fire, but I don’t know if that was the cause of the fire or whether it was the result of the fire.

This marks Morenci’s second fatal fire in a little over a year.

UPDATE: Father, Jeremy Rohr; son, Zachari Rohr.

UPDATE: Morenci police officer Frank Cordts was on patrol at the time of the blaze and noticed the flames as he drove down Pearl Street. He called to dispatch the fire department, said Morenci police chief Larry Weeks, then went to the front door and spotted Jeremy Rohr through the smoke and flames. A neighbor, Bobby Black arrived and the two men unsuccessfully tried to dislodge Jeremy from the house.

At one point Black slipped and fell and noticed the Rorhs’ youngest child on the floor. Black crawled over to the child and brought him out of the house. The child’s mother and another neighbor administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and the child eventually started breathing.

By this time the extent of the flames prevented any attempts to enter the house.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.