Bride Fatally Burned Trying To Escape Fire

Bride Fatally Burned Trying To Escape Fire

Mrs. Charles M. Gilson Dies In Hospital After Apartment House Blaze

Mrs. Charles M. Gilson, formerly Agnes E. Day of Manila, a 20-year-old bride of two weeks, died in St. Joseph’s Mercy hospital at 10:10 this morning from the effects of burns received when fire broke out in the Doric Apartments at 331 E. Liberty St. early this morning.

The young bride, who was a University sophomore, and her 24-year-old husband, a dentist at the University dental clinic, left their basement apartment by means of a flaming rear staircase and corridor, running through 13 feet of solid flames to the back yard of the apartment building, where some of the 13 other occupants of the apartment building smothered the flames from their clothing.

Dr. Gilson was severely burned, but St. Joseph hospital physicians said that he will recover.

Others Escape Injury

The other tenants, who were all In their apartments when the fire started at 12:20 this morning, escaped without injury. Damage to furnishings and to the interior of the building is estimated between $8,000 and $10,000 by Fire Chief Benjamin Zahn.

Two tenants escaped to the roof of the side porch and six others climbed down to the roof of a front porch, and came down ladders erected by firemen.

The blaze started in a paper container in the basement beneath the rear of the main floor hall and traveled up the center of the building to the top of the three-story building, Chief Zahn said. How the paper box caught on fire has not been determined, he said.

Most of the center of the building—the hallways and doors of the first, second and third floors—was destroyed. The rest of the damage resulted from water and intense heat, ruining a large portion of the furnishings in the seven apartments.

Could Have Used Window

Dr. Gilson and his wife lived in the basement apartment. If they had sought to leave their apartment through one of two windows, they could have left safely, Chief Zahn believes.

The other tenants, who will be forced to find other living quarters, were:

On the first floor: Mr. and Mrs. Richard Jahnke; Miss Grace Bosker, Tappan Junior High school teacher; Miss Janet Rae, secretary of the University investment office; Miss Hilia Lane, Slauson Junior High school teach; and Mrs. Rose M. Kohn, caretaker of the apartment.

On the second floor: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Freeman, Rosemary Lehmann and Miss Roberta Stevens;

On the third floor: Miss Maxine Carter and Miss Virginia Braun, who are employed at the King-Seeley Manufacturing Co.; and Miss Rosemary Schwab, who works for the Michigan Bell Telephone Co.

Dr. and Mrs. Gilson moved into the apartment following their marriage on last March 19. The parents of Mrs. Gilson reside in Manila, where they are interned by the Japanese. They are Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth B. Day.

WHERE BRIDE WAS FATALLY BURNED: Mrs. Charles M. Gilson, the former Agnes E. Day of Manila, was fatally burned, and her husband was severely burned when they ran through flames which enveloped the rear staircase (shown above) of the Doric apartments, 331 E. Liberty St., when fire broke out in the basement of the apartment early this morning. Dr. Gilson, 24 years old, a dentist at the University dental clinic, and his 20-year-old wife had been tenants of the basement apartment since their marriage on March 19. Thirteen other tenants of the building escaped without injury. The young married couple could have left their apartment through one of two windows, but they apparently chose to escape by means of the flaming staircase, according to Fire Chief Benjamin Zahn.