Siblings killed in fire

CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. -- A piece of Cleveland County history is destroyed in an early morning fire that also claimed the lives of two siblings.

The old home place at the Cook Bridges Dairy Farm off Ken McEntire Road in Polkville burned to the ground.

Jerry Cook, 63, and his sister Evelyn Buff, 68, were unable to escape.

Neighbor Kenneth Ledford first spotted the fire around 2:30 a.m. when he woke to his dogs barking.

"I looked and noticed a large, red ball with sparks coming out of it," Ledford said.

He called 911 and then went to the house to see if he could help, but it was too late.

"The flames were so hot, I couldn't do anything," Ledford explained.

"It's tragic," the farm co-owner Kevin Bridges told NewsChannel 36. "They're going to be missed. We just take it one day at a time."

The farm is one of Cleveland County's oldest dairy farms and has been in the Cook family for more than 70 years. The old farmhouse was estimated to be at least 100 years old.

Fire officials say the cause is still undetermined. They've ruled out foul play.

Funeral arrangements are still pending for Cook and Buff.