Elderly wife, husband die after Granville County house fire

GRANVILLE COUNTY (WTVD) -- Authorities in Granville County are investigating a house fire that killed an elderly woman, and later her husband, early Tuesday morning.

It happened around 2 a.m. in the 1600 block of Hester Road in the Creedmoor/Stem area.

Officials said the couple, who family members identified as 76-year-old Madeline Long and 88-year-old Sam Long, was found inside the burning single-story home after a man driving home from work spotted the flames.

"He saw the house, he ran up there and he broke the back door in," the couple's son, Royal Long, said. "My daddy was laying up there, near the door, and he dragged him out in the yard."

Royal Long said his father was badly burned and rescuers rushed him to the hospital, where he later died.

His wife, a cancer survivor, died inside the home.

"And then to be taken this way ...," family friend Priscilla Lindsey said. "[They were] very good people ... go out of their way to help you. She was an amazing woman. I will miss her!"

"I want to believe that they went to heaven. And I believe that they're going to be hand in hand, like they always have been here on Earth," Royal Long said. "I'm going to miss coming here on Sunday mornings."

Their home was completely gutted in the fire. The cause of the blaze is unknown at this time.

The State Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating.