Pelham mother dies in fire

A mother died in a house fire in Pelham, N.C., last week after struggling to save her three children.

Michelle Carter, 35, died Thursday night after a fire ignited in the basement of her Arch Cook Road house, said Capt. Jerald H. Brown of the Caswell County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators believe she succumbed to smoke inhalation, though they are still waiting for official confirmation from the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office, Brown said.

The fire started shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday night after a space heater fell over and ignited some combustibles while the family slept, said John Gentry, fire marshal for Person County who investigated the blaze.

Carter’s mother was upstairs in the house and smelled smoke, Gentry said. She yelled down to Carter to wake her and the children.

“The oldest son woke up and saw flames beside the television,” Gentry said.

The 15-year-old and the 13-year-old made it out the house, but the heat had gotten so intense in the stairwell that the 11-year-old couldn’t make it out the same way as his brothers did, Gentry said.

Carter pushed that son out of a window to get him to safety, Gentry said.

For some reason, Carter couldn’t make it out herself. Gentry said she may have become disoriented in the smoke after turning back for something.

Carter’s mother was able to escape.

“The damage to the house was really moderate,” Gentry said. “It was very limited fire damage, but it resulted in a loss of life.”

The 11 year old did sustain some burns to his hands and arms, Gentry said.

Gentry cautioned residents that if a fire ignites, evacuate the house and do not go back inside after possessions.

“Those are things that can be replaced,” he said.

He also cautioned people to keep space heaters away from combustibles, like paper and clothing, and not to leave heaters running while sleeping.

This is the third fire-related fatality in slightly more than a week.

Eddie Corbett, 74, of Kerr Chapel Road, died in a fire that broke out around 4 a.m. on April 20, investigators with the Caswell County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The singlewide mobile home was fully engulfed when emergency crews arrived, authorities said.

Corbett is believed to have died from smoke inhalation.

Investigators said the fire broke out in the kitchen, likely originating from a toaster oven.

On April 17, Lorania Edmunds, 74, of Pittsylvania County, was found burned to death after a brush fire near her home.

Investigators said Edmunds may have been burning trash before the brush fire broke out.

Sidener, who writes for The News & Advance in Lynchburg, can be reached at