Wanda English Burnett - Editor

One family is mourning the loss of four generations following a Sunday morning fire in North Vernon.
According to information from the North Vernon Police Department, officers responded to an emergency call of a house fire at 116 Franklin Street about 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The home was completely engulfed in flames when the officers arrived. The structure partially collapsed shortly thereafter.

The North Vernon Fire Department arrived soon after police and extinguished the fire. They also kept the blaze from spreading to neighboring houses in close proximity to the house that was on fire.

Upon extinguishing the fire, four people were found dead in the home, according to Jennings County Coroner Eugene Rudicel. Those names were released Monday afternoon and are: Helen Louise Dean, 72, of North Vernon; her daughter, Elena Kay Hardwick, 42, of Scipio; her granddaughter, Erika Rae Hardwick, 23, Scipio, and great grandson, Hunter Austin Hardwick, 18 months old, of Scipio.

Visitation for the four will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, November 21 at the North Vernon Church of the Nazarene. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 22 at 11:00 a.m. with Pastors Mark Hammel and Don Messer officiating. Burial will be in the Oak Grove Cemetery near Scipio. Memorials may be made to the Hardwick Family Fund through the Dove Sharp & Rudicel Funeral Home, North Vernon.

The North Vernon Police Department and North Vernon Fire Department are working with the Jennings County Prosecutor’s Office, State Fire Marshal’s Office and State Police to investigate the cause of the fire.