Fatal house fire remains under investigation
Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 1, 2014
- A Bowling Green firefighter climbs out of a window at 635 E. Main St. in Bowling Green on Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 at the scene of a fatal house fire. (Austin Anthony/Daily News)
The cause of a fatal house fire Friday on East Main Avenue remains unknown to firefighters, who are continuing to look the cause.
The single-family brick home at 635 E. Main Ave. sustained significant damage to the second level when fire ripped through the home, Bowling Green Fire Department spokeswoman Marlee Boenig said.
“It is my understanding that four guys lived there,” Boenig said.
Neighbors said only three of the men who lived in the home were there at the time the fire erupted, and they were all Western Kentucky University students.
The body of Tyler English, 20, of Louisville, was found inside the home, Warren County Deputy Coroner Chris Smith said.
This is the first fatal house fire in Bowling Green since 2006, Boenig said.
English, a Trinity High School graduate who was a sophomore construction management major, was recruited for the WKU football team as an offensive lineman before his freshman year in 2012. However, after being injured in an offseason car wreck, he was never able to play.
English worked as a student assistant in the football office, WKU spokesman Bob Skipper said.
WKU President Gary Ransdell called English’s father Friday to express his condolences, Skipper said.
The university is offering some assistance to the survivors.
“I know our counseling and testing center has reached out to the roommates to offer them their services,” Skipper said. “Housing and residence life has offered temporary housing in the residence halls.”
A roommate whose name has not been released was injured and taken to The Medical Center, Boenig said. She did not know the extent of his injuries.
City firefighters received the fire call at 5:12 a.m. and were on the scene at 5:17 a.m. The department responded with seven trucks and 22 firefighters, Boenig said.
“The flames were on the back side,” said Susan Stevens, who lives in another historic home across the street.
“They put it out pretty quickly,” next-door neighbor Josh Meltzer said.
The home was built in 1881 and is one of the oldest on that block.
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