Seventy-eight-year-old Eunice Vance Newman died Sunday morning when fire destroyed her home in Dale County.
Mrs. Newman, who was bedridden, was at home with her two daughters when a fire started in her bedroom. One daughter, who was cooking, heard a smoke alarm, but thought it was sounding an alarm because of the cooking. By the time the daughters realized there was a fire in their mother’s bedroom, they were unable to remove her from the house. Additional attempts were made to reach her from outside the home, however, these efforts were also unsuccessful.
The 9:00 AM December 26th fire at Route 3, Box 21; Ozark, AL destroyed the home. The cause of the fire and death are currently under investigation by the State Fire Marshals Office and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.