BREAKING: One person dies in Whitley house fire Tuesday morning

Officials say that at least one person died in a fire that damaged this home on KY 26 in Whitley County Tuesday morning.

A house fire on KY 26 in Whitley County claimed the life of one man Tuesday morning.

Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley said the victim has been tentatively identified as 68-year-old Dennis Barton, who lived at the residence.

“Until it is medically and scientifically confirmed, we can’t say with 100 percent certainty that it is him,” Croley said, adding that dental records will be used to confirm the identity..

Firefighters from Woodbine, Rockholds and Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Departments responded to a blaze at the home at 4209 KY 26 just south of the Old Corbin Pike turnoff at around 6:23 a.m. According to Woodbine Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Fore, the home was nearly fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

It took about an hour to extinguish the flames enough so that firefighters could make entry into the home. They have recovered the body of one person who apparently died in the blaze. The identity of the victim has not been released.

A Kentucky State Police arson investigator has been called to the scene. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Fore said it is standard procedure to call in the arson investigator in the case of a fatal fire.

Fore said a firefighter from his department drove by the home at around 5:45 Tuesday morning and noticed nothing out of the ordinary less than an hour before the fire was first reported.

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