Elderly couple killed in house fire

HOKE COUNTY The fire was reported just before 3 a.m. on South Hoke Street in Red Springs, just south of Raeford.

Henry Goins Jr., 78, and Elizabeth Goins, 74, had lived in the home for 40 years.

The couple's grandson, Nakoma Goins, 22, managed to escape the burning home by jumping out of a bedroom window. He suffered some smoke inhalation, but is expected to be okay.

"One of my cousins that actually lived here with my grandparents was able to jump out of a back window, but by the time he got out, the whole front of the house was in flames and nobody could get to them," one of the couples' grandsons Phillip Goins said.

The couple's son James Goins said when he arrived flames were shooting through the roof and he knew his mother and father were still in the house.

"I knew they were in there because I ran up on my nephew ... he had just got out," James Goins said. "I ran up on him and he told me what had happened. No way to get in there. I tried."

Authorities say the fire started in a room with a wooden stove that was used to heat the house. Relatives say smoke from it would occasionally set off the smoke detector, so the couple disconnected it.

Family members say Elizabeth was found in her bed and Henry had managed to get up, but died in the hall outside the bedroom. They say the couple built the house and raised six children in it.

"They were Christians and they were ready and one couldn't live without the other," one of the couple's granddaughters Leigh Brooks said. "So I think God took them in a way that they all agree ... the family is hurt, but I think they're at peace."

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