An 8-year-old dies in a house fire in rural Independence.

Yesterday afternoon at around 2:07pm, Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a residence at the request of the Cherryvale Rural Fire Department. Cherryvale Rural Fire, Independence Rural Fire, Sycamore Rural Fire and the City of Independence Fire & EMS were fighting a fully involved structure fire where an 8-year-old female was still inside. IFD made entry into the residence and was able to locate and remove the child from the residence.

EMS transported her to Labette ER where she was pronounced dead. The cause of death is undetermined at this time. Montgomery County Detectives along with the Kansas State Fire Marshall’s Office were called to the scene to investigate the cause of the fire, which is still under investigation.