Three young passers-by banged on the door to wake up the people inside, but the intense flames drove them back. All three then ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
The flames ripped through the house quickly. It took Lake Conroe firefighters only eight minutes to arrive on the scene but by that time half of the house had already burned.
"They were able to knock down the fire," said Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams. "They entered the building and they were able to find the two residents but they were deceased."
Neighbors described the elderly couple as being in their mid 70s. The unidentified man was active, but his wife was bedridden, plagued by respiratory and other health problems which required oxygen.
"Well, he was a real gentle soul of a man. He was very sweet and she was very ill and he took care of her," said neighbor Julie Singleton.
He was known to care for neighbors' homes if they were out of town, feed the animals and help move equipment or property.
Investigators confirmed that there were no smoke detectors in the home.
"They both were very heavy smokers and the woman was bedridden with oxygen and smoking. I mean, it's a double jeopardy there," said Lou Freitas with the Lake Conroe Fire Department.
Neighbors believe the man and woman were from the Pasadena area and had been married for about 20 years.
"This is really shocking. I hate to see them go this way," said Singleton.
The victims have not been identified. The cause of the fire is still not known.
