ALEXANDER TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The five victims of the Thanksgiving Day residential fire on Rainbow Lake Road include Naiomary Bellelynn Brown, 1, Eaiden Wayne Brown, 4, Katelin Jettibelle Brown, 26, Kenneth Jared Meeks, 41, and Vicki Lynn Brown, 49.
Meeks was the only confirmed victim as of Monday evening, according to the Athens County Coroner’s Office. The other four victims, including two children, have not been formally identified. However, obituaries for Naiomary Bellelynn Brown, 1, Eaiden Wayne Brown, 4, Katelin Jettibelle Brown, 26, and Vicki Lynn Brown, 49, all state they died in the fire.
Meeks’ obituary says he was “an outdoorsman and an expert carpenter” whose “friendly demeanor forged connections wherever he went.” Vicki Brown’s obituary describes her as “a great mother who made many sacrifices for her family.” Katelin Brown’s obituary says she was “a homemaker and a loving mother.”
Surviving members of the Brown family are collecting donations to support funeral expenses. Meeks’ obituary requests donations to Alexander High School FFA.
Full autopsy reports remain pending.
The fire was first reported to Athens County 911 just before 7:23 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 23, according to call recordings obtained by the Independent. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 11547 Rainbow Lake Road almost exactly 14 minutes later.
According to the county auditor’s records, the property belongs to Sandra Petrey. In Vicki Brown’s obit, Petrey is listed as a surviving sister.
The Richland Area Fire Department led the response to the fire, with support through mutual aid from the Albany Fire Department and Athens City Fire Department. The Richland Area Fire Department’s nearest fire station, in Shade, is 5.3 miles from the Rainbow Lake Road address.
According to a release by the state fire marshal’s office, the fire departments arrived to find two mobile homes fully engulfed, and a separate outbuilding also damaged. While extinguishing the fire, firefighters found five occupants dead.
The property tax card for the address lists only one single-wide mobile home, built in 1963. There’s another 14×66 structure listed, described as “unknown.” The tax card also lists an 8×12 wooden deck.
A single occupant escaped the fire, according to the release, and was transported to the hospital by emergency medical services.
“You gotta hurry up”
The first call to 911 came from an individual who was driving down Rainbow Lake Road. The caller reported that the car was flagged down by a male relative of those trapped in the burning structures. In the background of the 911 recording, the relative tells the caller he doesn’t know what caused the fire.
The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office told the Independent the cause of the fire has not yet been determined and the incident remains under investigation. A representative of the Richland Area Fire Department declined to comment, citing the state fire marshal’s investigation.
A second call to 911 was made shortly after 7:30 a.m. by a neighbor. The second caller told the dispatcher, “We need you here immediately, his house is completely gone.” The dispatcher informed the caller that firefighters were already on their way. The caller pleaded, “You gotta hurry up, we think everybody died in the house.”
The caller said the residents had been asleep and added that two children lived in the burning residences.
According to data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, deaths from rural manufactured housing fires are 15% higher, on average, than for other residential structures. Fires in manufactured housing also are much more likely to destroy the entire structure.
The leading causes of such fires are heating, electrical distribution and cooking. Three-quarters of rural manufactured housing either have no smoke detectors or have smoke detectors that don’t work.
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