Crime & Safety

Report: Fatal Christmas House Fire Started in Kitchen

The cause of the fire and 67-year-old Carolyn Hoose's death have not been determined, interim fire Chief Edward O'Brien said this week.

The fire that lead to the death of 67-year-old Carolyn Hoose inside her Cravey Trail home Christmas Day started in the kitchen's cooking area, the DeKalb County Fire Department said this week. 

The cause of the fire and Hoose's death, however, have not been determined, interim county fire Chief Edward O'Brien said today. The department's final report can't be finished until the county medical examiner's office completes its investigation – a process that could take 12 to 16 weeks, said John Henson, the office's deputy chief investigator.

Hoose was found dead several hours after a remarkably fast-moving fire consumed her 3,000-square-foot home at 2891 Cravey Trail. The fire is not being treated as suspicious, O'Brien said.

Find out what's happening in North Druid Hills-Briarcliffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hoose's in-home caregiver, Joneaa Williams-Heath, dialed 911 to report the fire just before 6pm, officials said. Williams-Heath lived with Hoose at the home, O'Brien said, and she was thanked by Hoose's family in an obituary published today in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The home was built with a large amount of open space, O'Brien said, giving the fire room to spread quickly. The house's three floors were fully engulfed within five minutes of the department's arrival, the report said.

Find out what's happening in North Druid Hills-Briarcliffwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Pulling up to that much fire... it's just hard to believe sometimes," O'Brien said.

Neighbors who watched the fire from a distance said flames could be seen licking above the treeline roughly 30 feet in the air. Emergency units set up in front of each side of the home, the report said, as they made slow progress extinguishing the fire. Part of the home's front side collapsed at about 6:22, the report said.

About an hour later, firefighters focused their efforts on fire still raging in the attic by carrying water lines on ladders up to the third floor. But a steady stream of water flowing into a gutter near the rear left corner of the home was too heavy for the roof's eave, which collapsed, smashing into firefighter Eddie Daniel who was holding a waterline on a ladder. The eave fell on top of two other firefighters, Eric Dickens and Capt. Phillip Ditmore, who were standing on the patio below.

The three men were evaluated by medics and taken to DeKalb Medical Center but didn't sustain serious injuries, O'Brien said.

Once firefighters were able to enter the home, they found Hoose in the kitchen area at about 10:45. The floor above had collapsed on her, the report said.

The fire caused roughly $800,000 in damage to the house and its contents. The house was built in 1977, according to county records.

Hoose was born Sept. 3, 1943, in Wauwatosa, WI, just oustide Milwaukee, according to her obituary in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She graduated from Wauwatosa High School and the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in medical technology. She worked as a medical technologist at the university and Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, the obituary said. She was a past member and volunteer for the Junior League of DeKalb County and the DeKalb Medical Society Auxiliary where she held leadership positions for several years.

Services will be held in the chapel at A.S. Turner & Sons, 2773 North Decatur Rd., Decatur, at 2pm Sunday, the obituary said. The family will receive friends for an hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Physicians' Care Clinic, care of the DeKalb Medical Foundation, 2701 North Decatur Rd., Decatur, GA 30033 or on the Web at www.dekalbmedical.org/foundation/physiciancare.aspx.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from North Druid Hills-Briarcliff