Elderly couple killed in Plymouth fire

By Emily Sweeney, Globe Staff, and Michele Richinick, Globe Correspondent

PLYMOUTH -- An elderly couple who had been married for 48 years was killed this morning when a two-alarm fire engulfed their home in Plymouth, according to a fire official and a family member.

Eduardo and Maria Rosa Tavares had been using a wood stove to keep warm since their heating system broke at least three years ago, according to their niece, Wendy Barbosa of Carver.

“This is extremely devastating for us,” Barbosa said in an interview outside the charred home at 35 Cherry St. “They actually slept on a couch right next to the wood stove."

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan confirmed that two people were killed in the blaze. Officials have not released any details about the victims killed by the fire, which started in the single-family home shortly before 7 a.m., according to Captain John Rogers of the Plymouth Police Department.

“The smoke was just terrible,” said neighbor Earl Day, who lives directly across the street. “You could just [barely] see the house.”

The couple’s next-door neighbors also had to be evacuated from their house because the smoke wafted into their home. The house that burned was built for employees who worked at Cordage Co., a rope-making firm, more than 100 years ago, Day said.

State troopers assigned to the state fire marshal's office are at the scene investigating. A preliminary investigation did not immediately point to what caused the fire, according to Coan.

“The structure is still standing, but every door and window is all busted through,” Day said. "I can see the backyard right through the house.”

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