Hide Article Text (OCR)
Remains Of Five Cliildrcn Sought In Ruins | Of Home Demolished IIy I7 ire X in as Morning .Bv HPRistfr Staff Writer «FAYETTEVILLE- The inquest I to follow the Christmas morning 1 fire which took the lives of five1 of the ton children in the family '] of Mr. ,,0.i Mo George Sodder on j Route 19-21 two miles north of here ua pending today while ! firemen m,uched the ruins and c iashes for the bodies of the young- lt;stcrs.Prosecuting Attorney Carl B. Vickers authorized Eire Chief K jj. Morris to direct the search. To- t day the prosecutor had been en- lt;• able to contact a member of the . state fire marshal's office.Casualties were Maurice Sod- ' ider, 15; Martha Lee. 12; Louis, 9; 1 (Jennie, 8 and Betty 6 | Escaping from the flaming 1 (structure were the parents and f (four children, Sylvia, Marion, (George jr., and John Sodder. A ' Ison who is in the army was not In the house when it burned. Telephone UselessThe blaze was discovered about 1:30 am. yesterday when Mrs. (Sodder was awakened by /smoke, j When she attempted to report the fire by telephone in the office used by the family transfer business she discovered the electric current was off.j Fire Chief Morris was notified (of the blaze, but was informed that (the house was already burned to (the ground. The fire department did not go to the scene until 9j a.m. (According to F. E Springer of i the state police, the house had a i basement, five downstairs rooms, j__________„ - anc^ ^wo upstairs rooms, where iseeking* bones ~or'other i+mains Funeral arrangements await the an opinion that the disaster was the victims were sleeping. Theof five Sodder children, ranging completion of the task. An in- the result of arson. lire apparently started in a down- ] --------------——----- _ __ ~ tain corner of the house sur jthe place where electric wiring ]and the meter box entered the i home. A strong wind was blow- ,ing, and the house was completely destroyed within a few minutes.The father, John Sodder, and George Sodder, jr., were staying in | a little market building near the (house today after the fire. The Red Cross, the fire department I and the board of education pro-; | vided stoves, food and other commodities for them. Sodder, his wrist cut in escaping, was confined to bed, and under medical treatment for shock.Mrs. Sodder, Marion Sodder, and Sylvia Sodder went yesterday I to the home of Mrs. Sodder’s brother, Jimmie Cipriani, at Smith- , lers.| Only a rubble of masonry remain- ( ed of the home, which was used byj( (See Story No. 1, Page 4)Fayetteville firemen today are in aze from six to fifteen, who vestigation by ine Office ot mecombing through ashes, above, perished early Christmas morn- state fire marshal was also ex-of the Sodder home two miles ing in the worst Yuletide trage- pected after survivors of theitAimfv riv ihp iipcUipv strea in voars. George Sodder family expressed
Newspaper Details
Beckley Raleigh Register
Beckley, West Virginia, US
Wed, Dec 26, 1945
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Miranda W.
USA 26 Feb 2025
Other Publications Near Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley Register Herald
Beckley Raleigh Register
Beckley Post Herald
Raleigh Register
Post Herald
