Friday 11 November 2022 11:56 PM Elderly couple die in house fire after granddad tells dispatch 'I'm not leaving ... trends now
An elderly couple, who were married for 63 years, died in a house fire after the granddad told dispatchers that he would 'not leave my wife.'
Kenneth and Phyllis Zerr, both 84, of New Melle, Minnesota, passed away around 1am on Thursday from a suspected electrical fire in their Tall Cedar Court home, where they lived for 18 years.
New Melle Fire Protection District said the fire started on the bottom floor of the home, eventually working its way upstairs to the two bedrooms.
The couple had been hiding in the master bedroom and when firefighters arrived, the entire upstairs floor began to collapse.
Kenneth had been trying to help his wife, who had fallen in the bathroom, out of the home when dispatchers encouraged him to get out as fast as possible, but he refused to Phyllis and shortly after they were trapped.
'My father said: "I'm not leaving my wife," and he stayed with her until the very end,' their son Andy told 5 On Your Side.
Kenneth and Phyllis Zerr, both 84, of New Melle, Minnesota, (pictured in 2013) passed away around 1am on Thursday from a suspected electrical fire in their Tall Cedar Court home, where they lived for 18 years.
New Melle Fire Protection District said the fire started on the bottom floor of the home, eventually working its way upstairs to the two bedrooms. The couple had been hiding in the master bedroom and when
