Evening star., 1941-08-12
Children Who Died
In Fire Believed
Looking for PET
Tokomo Park Sisters
Perished as Family,
Helpless, Looked On

A grief-strcken Takoma Park
Md family Of eleven made plans
today to bury two of its members,
aged 4 and S, who burned to death
in a paper filled shed back of their
home at lilo Flower avenue yester-
day afternoon.
The victims were Alice Mae Seek
S, and her sister Katherine Irene
4. daughters of Mr.. and Mrs. Earle
Seek.
Believed to be in search of their
pet kitten, which frequently hid in
the shack, the two children were
burned beyond recognition as their
mother and six sisters and brothers
looked on, helpless tC save them.
Montgomery County officials in
vestigating the fire were working
on a theory the girls struck matches
to locate their pet. The wooden
shed, which was attached to a barn
in the rear of the Seek home, was
filled with old newspapers.
Brothers Rescue Effort Fails.
Firemen arrived on the scene to
find the shed enveloped in flames.
Rescue of the children was impossi-
BILE BECAUSE of the intense heat.
The fire continued for more than
10 minutes before their bodies could
be extricated from the ruins.
The two girls had finished their
lunch only a few minutes before
and went into the yard to play.
Mrs. Seek missed them and sent
her son Russell, II, to see what they
we're doing.
Russell discovered the shed in
flames. He ran to a small door in
front of the shed, he told police,
and saw his sisters crouched in a
far corner. He attempted to enter
the shed, but fire from a burning pile
of newspapers was between him and
his sisters. He was driven back
by the heat.
It could hear them crying at
first" Russell said afterward, "and
then I couldn't hear them any
Heat Drives Others Away.
One of the first to arrive on the
scene was Officer George Altman
of the Takoma Park Police Depart
ment. He and Joseph Browning, a
sheet metal worker, who was across
the street from the Seek home,
rushed to the shed and attempted
to enter by tearing off boards from
the rear of the structure. They, too,
were driven OF
Officer Altman said he heard a
scream from the blazing shack.
Mr.. Seek, an employe of the
county roads department, had re-
turned to work after having lunch
with his family. County police
notified him of the tragedy.
The mother told police she be-
lieved the girls were looking for
their kitten. She said the children
occasionally used the place as a
playhouse but could offer no ex-
planation how the fire started.
The shed and barn were about
100 feet back of the house. The
barn, formerly used as a broom
factory, was not destroyed.
Other children of the family are
Lenwood, 10; Robert, IT; Elmer, IL;
Russell, IL; Gladman, s, and Mar
jorie, 3, all of whom were at home
when the tragedy occurred. An
other child, Mary, IA, was not at
home.
Firemen found no trace of the
kitten in the ruins.
Friends and neighbors immediate
ly began taking up a collection to
help the family.
The Montgomery County police at
Silver Spring reported today they
had collected more than 5000 Tor a
fund to help defray funeral ex-
penses for the two children. Mem
bers of Company c, Maryland State
Guard, collected nearly $40 at the
Silver Spring Armory last night.
Meanwhile. County Medical Ex-
aminer c. E. Hawks issued certifi-
Gates of accidental death and the
bodies were removed to the War
rem E. Pumphrey funeral home