Patrick Dennis Culp
Feb. 8, 1943-July 6, 1950
Niles Daily Star, Friday, July 7, 1950, page 1, col. 8, microfilm Niles District Library
NILES BOY, AGE 7, SUFFOCATES IN FIRE
Patrick Culp Is Unable to Escape Blazing House
Digging Prevents Mother From Saving Son in Rear Bedroom of Home
A seven-year-old Niles boy died late last night shortly after he was removed from the smoke-filled bedroom of a blazing home.
The victim was Patrick Dennis Culp, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Culp, 989 South Fourteenth street. He died en route to Pawating hospital. Death was attributed by Coroner William Pifer to carbon-monoxide poisoning.
The boy's mother, who had been asleep in the front part of the house, escaped from the fire but was unable to rescue her son because of a trench that circled the house. The trench apparently had been dug to permit repairs on the foundation of the house.
[Illegible] . .of the fire and a third son is serving with the army in Texas.
Damage to the six-room bungalow was estimated at $3,000. Cause of the fire has not been determined.
Niles firemen received the alarm at 11:35 and found the house virtually enveloped in flames. Capt. James Robbins bridged the trench and broke in the bedroom window to removed the trapped boy. Robbins said the boy's position indicated he had attempted to escape through the window but had been overcome.
Pet Dog Also Suffocates
The boy's pet dog also died from suffocation and was found in the bedroom.
The fire was brought under control quickly but the small home was gutted almost completely.
Survivors, in addition to the parents, are two brothers, Walter, of Niles, and David, Camp Hood, Tex., and the grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hartman and Mrs. Melroy Culp, all of Niles.
The boy was born Feb. 8, 1943, in Niles, and lived his entire life here. He attended the second grade at Southside school. Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home, where the Rev. Theo Eisen will conduct services at 2 p.m.
The death of the Culp boy was the second life lost in Niles in two
Monday. Burial will be in Silver-
William Abshire, 52, Three Riv-
days from fire.
ers, died of carbon monoxide fumes early Wednesday morning at the Broadway Apartment house, 501 Broadway, where flames destroy two downstairs bedrooms and caused an estimiated $5,000 damage.
Note the last paragraph is scrambled in the original.
Niles Daily Star, Saturday, July 8, 1950, page 2, col. 5, microfilm Niles District Library
CULP RITES MONDAY
Services for Patrick Dennis Culp, son of Mr.and Mrs. Lewis Culp, 989 South Fourteenth street, who died in the fire at his home late Thursday night, will be held at 2 p.m. Monday in the Pifer funeral home.
The Rev. Theo. Eisen, retired pastor of St. John's Evangelical and Reformed church, will conduct the service. Burial will be in Silverbrook cemetery. Friends may call at the Pifer funeral home this weekend.