Gardner ? Three people are dead after a house fire early Saturday morning in unincorporated Johnson County.

A passing motorist on Interstate 35 and a neighbor spotted the blaze around 3:45 a.m., and all three victims were found in what officials believe were two bedrooms.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday identified the victims as Richard G. Fielder, 74; his son, Ricky L. Fielder, 54; and Doris McGinnis, 72.

Firefighters were trying to determine what caused the fire and whether there were any fire alarms in the one-story brick house.

Just after a driver on the interstate reported seeing a fire east of the highway, a neighbor who lives across the street from the house, Betty Van Goethems noticed a light that turned out to be the blaze.

“I didn’t know what it was at first,” she said. “Finally when I came to my senses, I knew it was a ball of fire.”

Paul Van Goethems ran over to the burning home as flames shot higher than the 50-foot-tall trees next to it, but he couldn’t get close enough to go inside because of the heat.

The house was completely engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and it collapsed about half an hour later.