1963 — Feb 23, Home Fire (defective coal stove) Saville family, Morehouse, MO            —     10

–10  Bugbee. “Fire Protection Developments in 1963. NFPA Quarterly, V57/N3, Jan 1964, p213.

–10  Joplin News Herald, MO. “Family of Ten Burned to Death at Morehouse.” 2-23-1963, p.1.

–10  National Fire Protection Assoc.. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

 

Narrative Information

 

Bugbee/NFPA: “Every winter there is a series of tragic fires in dwellings, usually located in rural communities. The winter months of 1963 were no exception…10 lost their lives at Morehouse, Missouri, on February 23 (defective coal stove)…” (Bugbee. “Fire Protection Developments in 1963. NFPA Quarterly, V57/N3, Jan 1964, p. 213.)

 

Newspaper

 

Feb 23: “Morehouse, Mo. (AP) – Fire killed an entire family of 10 early today in a one-story frame dwelling. The dead: Paul Saville, 47; his wife Shirley, 25, and their eight children — Paul David Jr., 10; Glenda Sue, 9; Hester, 8; Everett 7; Alvin, 5; Michael, 2; Henderson, 1 and infant Zelda Mae.

 

Chief of Police J. T. Kindred said the family was trapped and the bodies were found in two beds.

 

“The cause of the fire was not determined. A coal stove was used to heat the house, Kindred said. “By the time the fire department got to the house the place was all in flames,” said Kindred. “I don’t think those folks ever  had a chance.”

 

Kindred said Saville was a disabled war veteran and had been living on a government disability pension.

 

“Firemen from Sikeston, seven miles east of Morehouse, found the home in flames at 3 a. m.” (Joplin News Herald, MO. “Family of Ten Burned to Death at Morehouse.” 2-23-1963, p. 1.)

 

Sources

 

Bugbee, Percy (NFPA General Manager). “Fire Protection Developments in 1963. National Fire Protection Association Quarterly, Vol. 57, No. 3, January 1964, p. 213.

 

Joplin News Herald, MO. “Family of Ten Burned to Death at Morehouse.” 2-23-1963, p. 1. Accessed 11-12-2014: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=166792447&sterm

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)