Powell mother and daughter killed in Wisconsin house fire

NECEDAH, Wis. (WCMH) – A Powell woman and her 5-year-old daughter were among six people who died in a house fire at a vacation home in rural Wisconsin.

Deputies from the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office, along with crews from two nearby fire departments, responded to 911 calls for a house fire around 2:30 a.m. on June 30.

Deputies found several people in the driveway and moved them farther away from the house. The people told deputies five people remained inside the home, and they later learned a sixth person was unaccounted for.

Fire crews spent about three hours working to put out the fire and remained on scene for nearly 12. All six unaccounted for individuals died. Among them were 38-yaer-old Charis Kuehl and her 5-year-old daughter Stella, who, according to the Shepherd of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Powell, were members of the congregation.

A GoFundMe page for the family said the family was on a vacation and had planned to move to New Ulm, Minnesota, over the summer.

Steven and Lycia Witte, ages 66 and 35, were also pronounced dead, as were two children aged 8 and 2.

The Juneau County Sheriff’s Office believed the fire to be accidental, but it remained under investigation as of Friday.