Carbon monoxide likely killed girls in Shawano fire

Two sisters killed in a fire at their rural mobile home on Monday night likely died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Shawano County Coroner Mike Jesse said today.

A blood sample he took from one victim showed a 65 percent carbon monoxide level. That means they might have died in their sleep from inhaling lethal fumes. Further details are expected this afternoon when autopsies on the girls are finished, Jesse said.

Services are Friday for Maria Garcia-Case, 11, and Jacqueline Garcia-Case, 10. They died in the fire at their home at N3118 Spruce Road in the town of Belle Plaine, about seven miles southwest of Shawano.The girls were home alone when the blaze was reported at 11:40 p.m.

Their mother, Cheryl Case, 33, who had been at work, and her boyfriend, Christopher Ruehle, 27, were heading home when the fire was reported. They arrived shortly after firefighters. Case told investigators she called the girls about 9:30 p.m. Monday and they were getting ready for bed.

Investigators said a wood-burning stove in the basement was the only heating system in the home and may be linked to the fire, but the investigation isn’t done, Steve Conradt, chief deputy of the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department.

Conradt said today Case told investigators the home had a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide detector that were working when checked two months ago.The girls apparently had been sleeping upstairs when the fire erupted.

Their bodies were found in the basement, the upstairs floor having collapsed into the basement.