NAPA, CALIF. — A World War II veteran and his wife of 75 years died together when a fast-moving wildfire swept through their California home.

Charles Rippey, 100, and his wife, Sara, 98, were not able to escape when fires that have killed at least 17 others across the state engulfed their home in Napa on Sunday.

“We kids would always talk about what it would be like if one of them died and the other was still alive,” one of their sons, Mike Rippey, 71, told The New York Times.

“They just couldn’t be without each other. The fact that they went together is probably what they would have wanted.”

The couple’s caregiver tried to rescue them as the fire reached their home but could not get them out in time, another son said.

Source: TODAY