By Bill Bush
The Columbus Dispatch
NEWARK, Ohio — Family members believe that a 94-year-old Newark woman who died in a house fire early yesterday morning might have been trying to save her cat.
Firefighters found Gussie Moorer near the door to the garage, and the cat’s dead body was nearby, said Zola Byrd, 72, of Newark, who was Moorer’s niece.
“She loved that cat dearly,” Byrd said. “She lived alone. ... It was just her and her cat.”
The fire broke out about 2 a.m. in Moorer’s split-level house at 45 Ramona Ave., the Newark Fire Department said. Moorer was taken from the scene to a nearby hospital, where she later died.
The cause of death hasn’t been determined, said Assistant Newark Fire Chief David Decker. There were smoke detectors in the house, but firefighters aren’t certain they were working, he said.
The family also speculates that Moorer could have been disoriented by the smoke, Byrd said. “They found her at the bottom of the steps going into the garage,” she said.
While Moorer’s health was failing and she was having difficulty walking, she was mentally alert.
“She could get around enough that we thought she should have been able to get out,” Byrd said. “We’re not sure what happened.”
Moorer had been a housewife and had no children, Byrd said. Her late husband, Oliver, worked in Kentucky coal mines before the couple moved to Newark several decades ago.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.
Copyright 2012 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved