SALISBURY, N.C.,None — Fire officials said Thursday night an overloaded electrical outlet caused the fire that killed an elderly retired pastor and his wife in Salisbury.
Robert Turner, 84, and his wife, Wanda, 82, not only lived by the rules of their church; they actually built it. The couple lived just a block away from the First Church of the Nazarene on West 12 Street in Salisbury. On Thursday, the Turners were killed after their house caught fire.
"I ran over there and I was knocking on the screen door," said Breanna Cherry, a neighbor who frantically tried to save the Turners.
"I opened it up and smoke just went everywhere," Cherry said.
The fire got so intense, firefighters backed away and tried to put it out from several angles. Their efforts were in vain, and the deceased couple was later found inside the home.
Fire officials tell Eyewitness News an overloaded electrical outlet was the cause of the fire. They also say the Turners had Christmas decorations near the area where the fire started; however, the damage was so severe, it will be impossible to determine whether those lights were plugged in and sparked the flames.
"They were wonderful people," the couple's son, Frank Turner said. Frank, like his father Robert, is a First Church of the Nazarene pastor.
"I'm not the kind of person who's at a loss for words, but right now, I'm at a loss for words," Turner said.
Robert Turner built the First Nazarene Church building in Salisbury in 1969. He had a reputation as a kind man who would do anything for his community.
Late Thursday, a man named Steve Daniels walked by the Turners' burned-out home. He recalled Turner being a milk man when he was a child. Daniels told us his family couldn't afford milk but Turner gave it to them anyway. The kind gesture left a lasting impression on Daniels.
"He was just so genuine and so sincere," Daniels said. "They will really be missed, they were such a great couple."
The Turners had just celebrated their 65th anniversary this month.
SLIDESHOW: Salisbury home destroyed in fire
Firefighters said the flames were intense and difficult to put out.
Family gathered just down the road from the home, at Salisbury First Church of the Nazarene.
They said Turner built it in 1969 after it moved from a site on East Bank Street and preached there for several different stretches of time, the last being around 2005.
Frank Turner wiped away tears as he told Eyewitness News about the award his father had just received there in October for his service.
"They always helped anybody they could help," he said. "I don't know anybody they ever turned down."
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