Jerseyville, IL House Fire, July 1965

7 SLEEPING CHILDREN DIE IN HOME FIRE.

Jerseyville, Ill. (AP) -- Seven sleeping children -- the
oldest 10 -- died early today in a fire at their home in Jerseyville. The parents, MR. and MRS. PAUL J. TAUL, were the only survivors.
Jersey County Coroner Rodney Jacoby said six of the children were trapped upstairs in the two-story brick house and died of suffocation. The seventh, PAUL JEROME JR., was on the first floor. His death was caused by suffocation and severe burns.
The other children were SUSAN VALERIE, 10; JOYCE MARIE, 8; six-year-old twins PATRICIA ELLEN and MICHAEL JOHN; JEFFREY ALLEN, 3,
and CLARA ELIZABETH, 2.
TAUL, 33, who was burned, tried to break down a door to get to the baby, but was forced back by flames.
He said he ran outside the house and was attempting to enter from the rear when an explosion knocked him unconscious. The baby, left in the parents' room while efforts were made to reach the children upstairs, was cut off by spread of the flames.
His wife, GLORIA, 29, escaped by jumping out a first-floor window.
Police said the fire started in the basement, but the cause was not yet known.
The family moved into the house outside the business district about three weeks ago from Bunker Hill, Ill. TAUL is a machinist at Olin Mathieson Chemical Corp. in Alton, Ill.
Jerseyville is 35 miles north of St. Louis.

Star News Pasadena California 1965-07-09
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!