An elderly couple and their grandson were killed over the weekend in a house fire near Eureka Springs.

Eureka Springs fire chief Gary Inman said the fire department was notified of the fire at about 4 a.m. Sunday, June 25.

“They said that there were people still inside,” Inman said. “When we got there, the house was fully involved. The elderly couple that lived there, their grandson had gone in before we got there, tried to get them out, but he never came back out either. I guess they called him first, and he went over there. His brother was a minute or so behind him and went in, but he only made it a few feet in. He realized that there was no way he could do anything. It was hot and it was smoky. If he’d have tried to go in, we’d have probably been recovering him as well.”

Authorities have not released the names of the victims pending identification of the bodies by the Arkansas State Crime Lab, but sources say the victims were Lynn Galyen, 84; his wife, Dollie, 80; and an unidentified grandchild. A Northwest Arkansas television station named a grandson of Lynn and Dollie Galyen as being killed in the fire, but neither Inman nor Carroll County Sheriff Daniel Klatt would confirm that report.

Klatt did confirm that the residence involved belonged to Lynn Galyen.

Lynn Galyen was the president of Hart’s Family Center in Eureka Springs.

In addition to Eureka Springs Fire & EMS, Klatt said the Holiday Island Fire Department and the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. Inman said authorities don’t suspect foul play. He said authorities believe they may know how the fire started.

“I hate to make a statement just on suspicion, but we do have a pretty good idea of what started the fire just from the initial reports that we got and what we saw when we first got there,” Inman said.