Juneau County Sheriff's Office releases ages of family members killed in Necedah fire

The Juneau County Sheriff's Office has released the ages of the six family members who died in a house fire early Sunday morning in Necedah.

They are Rev. Steven Witte, 66, his daughters Charis Kuehl, 38, and Lydia Witte, 35, and three of his grandchildren, ages 8, 5 and 2. The children have been identified as Stella Kuehl, Lena Henselin and Merci Henselin. In its update on Facebook, the Sheriff's Office did not attach the ages to particular children.

Family members were vacationing in a rental home in Necedah, expecting to stay through the Fourth of July. The fire was reported at about 2:35 a.m. Sunday on Morros Mile Road in Necedah. Fire department crews battled the fire for about three hours and were on the scene for more than 12 hours, according to a press release.

The Sheriff's Office has stated the fire appears to be accidental. An investigation is still ongoing.

Witte served as a minister in the early 2000s in Green Bay at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, which is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. He then served overseas as a missionary in southeast Asia.

"The pain of losing six members of one family cannot be described with words," said WELS President the Rev. Mark Schroeder. "The only thing that can begin to bring comfort in such a time of grievous loss are the words that God himself speaks to us. Those words remind us that these members of our extended WELS family are now resting in perfect joy and peace at the side of their Savior."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Juneau County Sheriff's Office releases ages of family members killed in Necedah fire