Man Killed in Longview Fire Identified

GREGG COUNTY — The house fire that killed a 91-year-old Longview man Thursday afternoon was started by an overloaded electrical plug, authorities said Friday. The body of Emmit Brook was found in a front bedroom of the home where he had lived for 30 years, the same room where the fire started. According to the Longview News-Journal, the 68-year-old man, who was asleep in a back bedroom of the house in the 500 block of Idylwood Drive, near South Ward Elementary School, narrowly escaped after being awakened by neighbors. He was treated at Good Shepherd Medical Center for second-degree burns on his face and hands, Fire Marshal Johnny Zackary said. Zackary said Brook lived in the house with his daughter and her husband. His daughter was out of town at the time of the fire.