Evening star., 1947-04-05
Woman Killed by Fire
In Home; ; Critically
Burned in Dormitory
Two-AIorm Blaze Strikes
Converted Borrocks;; Four
Injured on 47th Street

A woman d1ed OF smoke SuIIo-
cation and seven other persons
were injured in two early morn
ing fires, one in a home at 4444
Forty-seventh street NV. and
the other in Alcott Hall, former
WAVE barracks in West Poto-
mac Park.
The dead woman was Mrs. Sara
P. Thorne, 81, who apparently was
asphyxiated when fire broke out in
the second floor OF her home. She
was an employe of the Internal
Revenue Bureau.
Injured in the Forty y-seventh street
! fire were:
Talmadge Thorne, 50, husband OF
the dead woman, treated in George
town Hospital for cuts, burns and
possible rib fractures. He is an
Internal Revenue attorney.
Fireman James Serreka Of No. u
engine company, treated at Ener-
geicy Hospital for arm cuts.
Fire Department It. S. c. john
son of No. 90 engine company
wrenched back.
Policeman Wayne M. Hostetler, 80,
of No. 8 precinct. treated for hand
cuts.
Two-Alarm Fire in Hall.
Those burned in the two-alarm
Alcott Hall fire shortly after 4 am.
today were:
Miss Cornelia Mayer, 81. of Lyn-
brook. Long Island. q Commerde
Department employe, in critical
condition at Emergency Hospital
with burns of the entire body.
Mrs. Clara NJ. Biggs, So, of
Wellesley, Mass, Navy Department
employe, in critical condition at
Emergency Hospital with burns of
the feet, neck and arms.
Miss Sadie Gordon, as, of Wander
grift, Pa, also Navy Department
worker, in Emergency Hospital with
critical burns Of the face, hands
and feet.
Mrs. Thorne was pronounced dead
by private physician after firemen
fought their way through dense
smoke to the second-fioor hallway
and found her unconscious on the
floor She had not been burned,
f1remen said. DR.. Christopher J..
Murphy, deputy coroner, ruled death
was due to accidental suffocation.
Walls Scorched Through House.
Mr.. Thorne, the two fremen and
the policemen were injured attempt
ing to extinguish the flames.
Cause of the fire was not de-
termined Immediately. It was be-
,ieved to have started in library
on the first floor. and police
thought a cigarette might have
igEited overstuffed furniture there.
The blaze itself was confined to
the library and kitchen, but intense
heat scorched walls throughout the
house, and there was considerable
smoke damage. The fire marshalrs
office was investigating.
Police said a neighbor who heard
Mr.. Thorne's cries for help sum-
moned them by telephone, thinking
some one was trying to break into
the house.
When Policemen Hostetler, D. M.
Brown, John O'Reiily and Eugene
Gooding arrived in two scout cars,
they reported, they found Mr..
Thorne standing on the sidewalk
in his bathrobe.
Bleeding and shaken, he told
them, they said:
My wife is inside"
Broke Through Window.
According to police, the Govern
ment attorney said he had been
aroused by his wife shortly after 8
am. and, finding the bedroom filled
with smoke, had broken a window,
climbed to q first-fioor roof and
jumped to the ground.
Policeman Hostetler turned in
box alarm, but firemen already were
on the way on a telephoned alarm.
Police said the home was owned
by Mr.. Thorne's father, John r.
Thorne OF Falls Church, Va.
Charles Randall. Mrs. Thorne's
son by a previous marriage, lives
in Arlington, police said.
Heroine Of the Alcott Hall fireH
was Miss Joyce Walton, 20, of Stone
Bluff, Ind, Navy Department en-
ploye, whose screams aroused the
more than so occupants Of the burn
ing barracks when flames swept
Wing T.
Firemen said the fire broke out
in room occupied by Miss Gordon
Miss Walton said she awoke shortly