Two people who died in a Harlan house fire have been identified as a 52-year-old woman and her 24-year-old son, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff's office determined the two intentionally set the blaze inside the home as an act of suicide, according to a Thursday, Sept. 18 news release.

Fire crews were called around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, to a home at 1108 Third St. in Harlan, a western Iowa town of about 5,000, after reports of possible entrapment, according to the release. When firefighters arrived, the residence was filled with smoke.

The two occupants were pulled from the house, given medical care at the scene and then taken to Myrtue Medical Center in Harlan, where they were pronounced dead. A third resident was not home at the time.

No emergency

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