Arson investigated after 2 killed in northwest Montana fire

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBIA FALLS – Two people were killed in a house fire in northwestern Montana that’s under investigation by authorities as possible arson.

The fire, along a road that’s south of Whitefish, was reported shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, the Hungry Horse News reported.

The two-story house was fully engulfed by flames. Neighbors said they could hear screaming and a woman reportedly jumped from a second story window to escape the flames.

The fire is under investigation, Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said, and may have been started by one of the two people who died.

The identities of the victims were not immediately released.

Four people reportedly lived at the house—a couple and their elderly parents, neighbors said.