Separate house fires kill two Ga. couples

Separate house fires in Georgia - one in Fayette County and the other in Twiggs County - killed two couples over the weekend.

WSB-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1DnY8aj ) that charred remains are all that's left of a house in Fayetteville after a blaze ripped through it Saturday afternoon.

Fayetteville Fire Chief Alan Jones said the fire included an explosion in the attic, where a propane tank was kept, and the roof of the home collapsed after fire spread.

The two people killed were identified as 95-year-old Lamar Beckwith and his wife, 89-year-old Catherine Beckwith.

Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the state fire commissioner, said investigators determined the blaze was caused by an accidental electrical malfunction in a rear bedroom.

Meanwhile, Allen says an early morning fire Sunday that claimed the lives of a Twiggs County couple was also accidental.

The fire was reported shortly before 3 a.m. at a house in Jeffersonville.

Allen said the victims were 79-year-old Herschel S. Odom and his wife, 75-year-old Elizabeth Odom.

He said fire investigators determined that an electrical malfunction led to the blaze, though an exact cause wasn't determined due to the extensive damage to the structure.

(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)