A Three Oaks family is still waiting for answers after a tragic fire that killed two men early Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, a man who used to live in that house tells us it was a recipe for disaster.

The Berrien County Sheriff's Department tells us the fire at the Three Oaks rental home is still under investigation, and they have yet to identify the cause.

Family tells us they're still trying to figure out what happened, and deal with the unimaginable loss.

On any given summer day, you could have found 39 year old Ken Smith and 28 year old Adam Palus on the banks of the river just a few miles from Smith’s home.

“They’d walk around the bank and put up their chairs and have a beer and fish,” said Martin Dzuris, who is Palus’ brother, and Smith’s brother in law.

Dzuris says this is one of Adam’s favorite places. So re-visiting it is difficult.

“It’s hard. But it's where you want to be, it's where they enjoyed life... That’s the only thing we have, so many good times,” Dzuris says

A much better image than the home a few miles away, where a fire took the lives of Smith and Palus.

How they ended up in the home, may never be known.

We know that when the blaze broke out, Smith Palus sprung into action, and were able to get Smith's wife and two daughters out of the home safely.

For some reason, they went back inside.

Family members think it may have been to look for Smith's son, who is usually home, but was staying at a friend's house that night.

Or, they may have been going in after one another.

But family is sure it was to try to save a person, rather than possessions or the home.

“You know they weren’t dumb and my brother grew up around fire and he built homes. He knows how dangerous it was, and neither one of them was materialistic. They would never go back and save possessions or a house, that's for sure not the case,” Dzuris said.

After all, it was a rental home; which opens up the next questions.

How did the fire start, and could it have been prevented?

“The house had problems, I know that they were dealing with a bunch of problems,” Dzuris said.

Smith and his family moved in to the house in early 2007, right after Adam Kuipers moved out.

“We didn't like being there in the first place, something was wrong. The place is put together with sticks, and something's going to go wrong,” Kuipers said.

He says there was a plethora of problems at the rental house, including electrical ones.

“There'd be shorts all the time. You'd have to go down and flip the switches, which would indicate something, the current, wasn’t running right somewhere,” Kuipers said.

Kuipers says the landlord, Jack Zimmerman, showed little interest in fixing any problems with the home.

WNDU tried contacting Zimmerman Friday through multiple phone calls, and visited his listed address in Michigan City, but got no response.

Meanwhile, the family is still picking up the pieces.

“I was there in the house and it looks like it started in the ceiling. I'm no expert, but I heard it was probably electrical, but the house had problems,” Dzuris said.

And they're waiting to see if they'll have answers.

Meanwhile, There are memorial funds set up for each of these victims at the New Buffalo Savings Bank in New Buffalo.

The checks can be made out to the Ken Smith III Estate, or the Adam Palus Memorial Fund. Palus’ fund was just set up Friday.

Meantime, Tots 2 Teens in Three Oaks is looking for donations for the Smith family.

The following items are greatly needed:

Pants: Women's 11-12
Men's 34W X 32L
Girls 2t-3t & 4t-5t

Shirts: Women's M-L
Boys XL
Girls 2t through 5t

Shoes: Women's 8
Men's 10
Girls 5-6 & 8

Diapers: Size 4

Winter Coats: Women's LG
Girls 3t & 5t

School Supplies: Boys Backpack & School Supplies
Girls small backpacks
Children's Books
Coloring Books

Toys for ages 2, 4, and 14
Stuffed Animals

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated and can be dropped off Thurs.-Sat. from 1pm - 9pm and Mon. April 6th - Fri. April 10th from 11am - 6pm.

Tots 2 Teens
4 Maple St.
Three Oaks, MI

If you cannot make it during the drop off times please call Jennifer Williams at (269)397-6547 or Angie Wieczorek at (269)924-2070.