1955 — Jan 31, Fire (mother and children), Home Oil Stove, Lakeview, GA — 5

— 5 Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1.
— 5 Thomasville Times-Enterprise, GA. “Mother and Four Children Perish…” 1-31-1955, p. 1.

Narrative Information

Jan 31, AP: “Rossville, Ga. (AP) – A 29-year-old mother and her four children perished early today in a fire which destroyed their three-room frame house in nearby Lakeview. The husband and father George G. Sledge, 32-year-old automobile mechanic, escaped but suffered burns while trying to rescue his family. Dead are Mrs. Alta Wright Sledge, native of Lafollette, Tenn.; Roy Lee Sledge, 10; Larry Paul Sledge, 8; Brenda Fay Sledge, 6; and John Terry Sledge, three months.

“A faulty oil heater was believed to have started the blaze, which a neighbor said caused the entire house to “explode.”

“Sledge said his wife awakened him, shouting, “George, George,” and ‘I jumped up and ran to the front door. I had my wife by the hand and was pulling her with me. The door was locked and I couldn’t find the key. I ran out the back door and around the house and knocked down the front door, but it was too late,” Sledge related.

“Burton Keown, who lives close by, said he found Sledge “running around his house screaming. He just had on his underwear and was hysterical. I asked him if there was anyone in the house and he said all of them were. I picked up a pipe and knocked out a window and the house just exploded.”

“The five bodies were removed from the smoldering ruins about an hour after the fire started. Firemen found the body of Mrs. Sledge lying across the bodies of the four children on a bed, indicating she was trying to protect them from the flames.

“Reuben Satterfield, chief of the fire and police department at Fort Oglethorpe, said the home was burning out of control when firemen reached the scene. “It was just about to cave in and there wasn’t much that could be done,” he said.

“Lakeview adjoins Rossville across the Tennessee-Georgia border from Chattanooga.” (Thomasville Times-Enterprise, GA. “Mother and Four Children Perish as Home Burns.” 1-31-1955, p. 10.)

Feb 1, AP: “By The Associated Press. Forty-six persons — most of them children — have lost their lives this week in a tragic outbreak of fires occurring in six states….Georgia – A 29-year-old mother at Rossville, Mrs. Alta Wright, died trying to save her four children after an oil stove exploded. The children, ranging from three months to 10 years, also perished….” (Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1.)

Sources

Daily Messenger, Canandaigua, NY. “46 Lose Lives in Outbreak of Fire.” 2-1-1955, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=55173777&sterm

Thomasville Times-Enterprise, GA. “Mother and Four Children Perish as Home Burns.” 1-31-1955, p. 10. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=189349164&sterm