Dewey Wayne Sr, Karen Sue, Steven Allen, Georgetta & Dewey Wayne Jr Roberts

Stilwell Democrat Journal

January 02, 1992 Front Page Headline

Submitted by: Martha Real

FOUR DIE IN MOBILE HOME FIRE ON CHRISTMAS EVE

A mobile home fire just before midnight on Christmas Eve resulted in the deaths of a Stilwell man, his pregnant wife and their two children. Killed in the fire were Dewey Roberts, 24, his wife Karen Gann Roberts, 20, who was nine months pregnant, and their sons, Dewey Wayne, age two, and Steven, nine months old.

The family was found by firefighters on the floor of the west bedroom, where they had apparently been overcome by smoke.

Johnson Fourkiller, assistant fire chief, said Mrs. Roberts had her arms around the children as if she were trying to lead them to safety.

The family home was in a row of trailers on S. Third St., just across the Kansas City Southern Railway tracks.

The Stilwell Fire Department was called at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday and stayed at the scene until nearly 8: a.m. Fourkiller said a neighbor, Dexter Taylor, spotted the fire and attempted to reach the family. “Taylor beat on the door, but got no response, and even crawled inside a ways before the smoke drove him back out,” said Fourkiller. “He then went around to the back door and beat on the window. They apparently were dead of smoke inhalation before the neighbors arrived.”

Firefighters were on the scene within five minutes of the call but found the trailer engulfed in flames, with no chance for a rescue. Earlier reports that the parents had left the trailer and returned for their children were incorrect, Fourkiller said.

Adair County Sheriff’s investigator Gerald Ford said the cause of the fire was a leaking propane gas line. “The family had borrowed an electric heater from neighbors, and relatives said they had been having trouble with their heating stove,” said Ford, The pipe leading to the stove had been burned completely through.”

Fourkiller said the state fire marshal’s office determined Roberts had worked on the stove earlier that day, and turned it off after a flare-up. “The gas was off at the stove, but apparently a little flame, like a pilot light, kept burning on the flexible gas line,” said Fourkiller. “When it burned through, it was like a welding torch, causing the flames to run up the wall.”

The fire was the worst in the area since January of 1991, when the three children of James and Tina Holbird of Baron were killed in a house fire.

Dewey Wayne Sr, Karen Sue, Steven Allen, Georgetta & Dewey Wayne Jr Roberts

Stilwell Democrat Journal

January 02, 1992

RITES HELD FOR FOUR VICTIMS OF HOUSE FIRE

Services for the four members of the Dewey Wayne Roberts family, who died in a house fire on Christmas Eve in Stilwell, were held Sunday afternoon in the Rock Fence Church with the Rev Wayne Bunch officiating.

Interment was in the Rock Fence Cemetery under the directions of the Hart Funeral Home. Their obituaries follow;

Dewey Wayne Roberts, 24, was born May 14, 1967, in Sequoyah County, Okla, to Joe and Geneva Ann (Coleman) Roberts. He is survived by his father, Joe Roberts, Stilwell, his mother, Geneva Roberts, Gore; and two brothers, John Roberts, Stilwell, and Jimmy Roberts, Westville. One brother, Thomas Roberts, preceded him in death. He was a member of the Belfonte Baptist Church.

Mrs. Karen Sue (Gann) Roberts, 20, was born Feb. 11, 1971, in Tahlequah to George Gann Sr and Mary (Taylor) Gann. She was a member of the Rock Fence Church. Survivors include; her father, George Gann Sr; three brothers, Leo, LeRoy, and Gary Gann; and two sisters, Janice Sanders and Debbie Jo Gann, all of Stilwell. She was preceded in death by her mother; one sister, Mary Sisco; and one brother, George Gann Jr.

Dewey Wayne Roberts Jr., 2, was born Nov 11, 1989, in Stilwell to Dewey Wayne Roberts Jr., and Karen Sue (Gann) Roberts, Survivors include; his grandfathers, George Gann Sr., and Joe Roberts, both of Stilwell; his grandmother, Geneva Roberts, Gore; and several aunts and uncles.

Steven Allen Roberts, age eight months, was born April 9, 1991, in Stilwell to Dewey Wayne Roberts Jr. and Karen Sue (Gann) Roberts.

Survivors include; his grandfathers, George Gann Sr. and Joe Roberts, both of Stilwell; his grandmother, Geneva Roberts, Gore; and several aunts and uncles.

The copyright (s) on this page must appear on all
copied and/or printed material.