Three Girls Perish In Washburn Fire

By TED SYLVESTER

WASHBURN -- The bodies of three young girls were found huddled together in a clothes closet here Sunday morning as the aftermath of a fire which swept through the Story Street home of Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Corey. The Coreys and three other children escaped the 6 a.m. fire.

Identified as the fire victims were Merlene, 6, and Sherlene, 12, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Corey, and Raelene Stewart, 12, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Stewart. The Stewart girl had spent the night at the Corey home as a guest.

Is Hospitalized

Hospitalized at A. R. Gould Memorial Hospital in Presque Isle was Mrs. Corey. Hospital officials said she received a lacerated right forearm, hut was in satisfactory condition. She was reported to have leaped through a window carrying one of her children. Aroostook County Fire Marshal Harry Smith said he was told the mother had attempted to reach the three girls in a corner bedroom but was driven back by smoke and flames. Both parents also tried unsuccessfully to reach the girls through an outside window, according to one fire official.

Children saved by their parents from the burning seven-room, one story structure were Corlene, 2, Tony, 4, and Deano, 3. A sixth child of the Coreys, Merlin Jr., 13, had been spending the night with friends and was not at home at the time of the blaze.

The family is staying with Corey's sister and family. Mr. andl Mrs. Perley Maynard of Washburn.

Discover Bodies

Smith and Washburn volunteer fireman Harry MacKay made a search of the structure and discovered the bodies of the three victims huddled under a piece of plaster hoard in a clothes closet. Their bodies were not charred, Smith said. The fire marshal estimated the intensify of the heat at the height of the fire to have been in excess of 1,500 degrees.

County Attorney Cecil H. Burleigh was called to the scene and told the NEWS later that the girls died as a result of the fire and that there would be no autopsies and no criminal action. The Stewart girl was taken to the Morgan Funeral Home in Caribou. and the Corey children to the Graves Funeral home in Presque Isle. They were scheduled to be examined by County Mediacl Examiner Dr. Samuel Rideout of Fort Fairfield, Burleigh said.

Passerby Sees Fire

According to a neighbor, Arthur Perkins, the fire was first seen by a parsserby, Leland Drost, at approximately 6 a.m. Perkins said he was awakened and looked out to see the entire front of the Corey home a mass of names.

Assistant fire chief Leo Flanagin, who was in charge of fighting the fire, said the entire front of the house was in flames when the fire department arrived. Flames were shooting out of the windows. Sixteen firemen using four fire trucks fought the fire in near zero temperatures for more than five hours, returning to the fire station at 11:30 a.m. Flanagin said it was first thought there were four youngsters trapped in the building until the older boy who had been away for the night turned up.

The fire official said the blaze may have originated in the kitchen area of the home or in the basement. He said state fire inspector Fred Gates of Lincoln will investigate the cause, assisted by the county fire marshal. The home was about two miles west of the village.

The home and all its furnishings were destroyed in the fire, but no immediate estimate of damage was available, Flanagin said. It was also not known if the fire loss was covered by insurance.

[December 29, 1968]

SHERLENE COREY
MERLENE COREY

WASHBURN -- Funeral services for Sherlene Corey, 12, and her sister, Merlene, 6, who died in a fire at their residence here Sunday will be held Thursday at 4 p.m., with a Mass of the Angels said at St. Catherine's Catholic Church.

Officiating will be the Rev. Reginald Brissette.

Sherlene was born in Caribou, Dec. 4, 1956, and Merlene in Presque Isle, Aug. 31, 1962, the daughters of Merlin and Madeline (Carman) Corey, Sr.

Surviving besides their parents of Washburn are a maternal grandmother. Mrs. Eva Carman of Portland; paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Hardin Corey of Washburn; three brothers. Merlin Jr.. Ferline and Earlene of Washburn; a sister, Caralene, of Washburn; aunts, uncles and cousins.

Burial will be in Holy Rosary Cemetery in Caribou next spring.

MISS REALENE STEWART

WASHBURN -- Miss Realene Stewart, 12, died Sunday morning as the result of a house fire here.

She was born in Caribou, April 10, 1956, the daughter of Franklin and Edna (Doody) Stewart.

Besides her parents, she is survived by a brother. Franklin; three sisters, Mrs. Donna Snowman, Miss Jaynol and Miss Norma Stewart, all of Washburn; a half-sister, Mrs. June Johnson of Hartford, Conn.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Washburn with the Rev. Erick Davidson, Pastor, officiating.