ELKHORN — A man and his mother were both killed in a weekend fire in Walworth County.
Investigators told TMJ4 they are still trying to determine what started the fire.
Jean Barry, who lives in the building that caught fire near Highway 11 in Elkhorn, said she was on her way home Saturday when she noticed her quiet street was filled with sirens and flashing lights.
"The road was blocked off by the police, so I pulled into the gas station and asked them what was going on, and he said there's a fire down there," Barry recalled. "Then he said, 'What's your address?' and I told him my address, and he goes, 'It's your house,' so I'm like, 'Oh my gosh!'"
She then discovered the fire had started in the upper unit of the duplex where she lives, taking the lives of two of her neighbors.
First responders said when they arrived around 5:35 p.m., the second floor was engulfed in flames.
Looking at the home Monday, one could see the room where the fire originated, which eventually melted the siding and left a gaping hole.
Barry said her home downstairs primarily suffered smoke and water damage.
A married couple and the husband’s elderly mother lived in the upper unit that caught fire.
TMJ4 spoke to family members of the victims, who identified the two who died as 58-year-old Brad Chapman and his mother, 83-year-old Sylvia Chapman.
"We're all close here, so it's sad," said neighbor Rachel Polston. "It's very, very sad to see something like that happen."
Watch: Neighbor reacts to Elkhorn fire that kills man and mother: 'It's a tragedy'
Polston has lived across the street from the home for more than three decades and recalled the sight of so many first responders on Saturday.
"You don't know what to say when something like that's happened," Polston told TMJ4.
TMJ4 reached out to the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office and fire department for information on the fire and what may have started it.
Authorities say the cause is still under investigation.
The Chapman family told TMJ4 off-camera they are waiting for those answers as they grieve the sudden loss of their loved ones.
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