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Elkins Park fire kills husband and wife in their 90s

The fire is believed to have started in the couple's bedroom.

A fire in Elkins Park on Sunday morning killed a couple in their late 90s, authorities say.
A fire in Elkins Park on Sunday morning killed a couple in their late 90s, authorities say.Read moreCHRIS PALMER / Staff

A powerful house fire in Elkins Park on Sunday morning killed an elderly couple who had lived in the home for decades, according to authorities.

Neighbors identified the couple as Roy and Helen Finestone, both 98 and longtime residents of the 600 block of Spring Avenue.

Timothy Schuck, deputy fire marshal of Cheltenham Township, said the fire was reported around 4:38 a.m. It took about 150 firefighters more than two hours to get the blaze under control, he said. Investigators had not yet determined a cause, though Schuck did say that there was no indication of foul play and that he believed the fire started in the bedroom where the couple were found.

According to Mark Fazlollah, an Inquirer reporter whose home is adjacent to the Finestones', sharing a wall, Roy Finestone was a Navy veteran who served in World War II, and his wife was a friendly and thoughtful woman who played with neighborhood children and often baked treats for people on the block.

Fazlollah said the Finestones were considerate neighbors who loved to read. Helen Finestone played basketball with his daughter when she was in her 80s, Fazlollah said.

Kristin Winch, another neighbor, said the Finestones were very close to their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, many of whom were frequent visitors.

"They were just really pleasant people," she said.

Fazlollah said he woke up Sunday and noticed flames coming out of the Finestones' house. His wife called 911, and he tried to get into his neighbors' house to help them escape, but the smoke was too intense. Fazlollah's house also was heavily damaged.

Schuck said firefighters who responded to the scene found a blaze that intensified rapidly, spreading from the Finestones' first-floor bedroom through the rest of the house and into the attic.

The front of the house was charred Sunday morning; Schuck said a roof over the front bedroom had collapsed. Firefighting conditions were also made more challenging by the high temperatures overnight, he said.

The fire was deemed under control at 6:54 a.m., according to Schuck.

More than a dozen firefighters remained on scene well into Sunday morning, shoveling debris out of the house and hosing down pieces that remained hot.