THREE OAKS — Two men died in a fire early Tuesday morning after rescuing three others from a burning house off U.S. 12.

Three Oaks Fire Chief Dave Flick said 39-year-old Kenneth Smith III and a family friend, Adam Palus, 28, went back inside Smith’s burning home and never made it outside.

When firefighters broke through the front door, one of the men had collapsed just two feet from the door and the other was laying near a stairwell leading up to the upstairs.

Flick said he was not sure why the men tried to go back inside the home, but he speculated that they may have been trying to put out the fire, which had started in the front living room.

"Once you’re out you should stay out," Flick said somberly trying to warn others to not repeat the same tragedy.

When firefighters from Three Oaks arrived at the old farm house about 11:48 p.m. on Monday the front of the two-story building was fully engulfed, he said.

Firefighters from Galien, Chikaming and New Buffalo helped battle the blaze for two hours, Flick said.

The house, which the Smiths were renting, had no smoke alarms, he said. The fire’s cause has been classified as undetermined, he said early Tuesday.

Staff writer Carol Draeger:
cdraeger@sbtinfo.com
(574) 807-2941