NORTH VERNON – The identities of three people who died in a Jennings County house fire Tuesday morning have been released.
Chris Hermann, 53, was identified as one of the victims of the 5:30 a.m. blaze by Jennings County coroner Alden Rudicel.
A female companion, 51-year-old Angela Marie Lyons, and her 25-year-old son, James Robert Lyons, also perished in the fire.
The coroner concluded that all three of the victims died of smoke inhalation, Rudicel said.
While the cause of the fire in the 144-year-old two-story brick farmhouse has not been determined, a preliminary investigation indicates it may have started in a malfunctioning wood or pellet-burning stove.
By the time first responders arrived on the scene at 10250 N. County Road 500E, North Vernon in Columbia Township, the house was completely engulfed in flames, investigators said.
After the walls, ceiling and roof collapsed, it took several hours Tuesday afternoon to remove the bodies from the home, Rudicel said.
James Robert Lyons had recently traveled from Ohio to the historic home two miles southeast of Westport, the coroner said.
