Evening star., 1963-04-24
The
Rambler
Meets
The Peaches
BY JOHN McKELWAY

Wdo dUOuJ b41C SlAC VI u u1Il-
ner plate" according to a
man named William Cole
man. He is IS and lost every
thing but his wife and two
goats and two pigs in the big
brush fire which swept Anne
Arundel County last Satur-
day.
But the high winds
whipped it up. 1t spread in
seconds, jumping fields and
highways and raging out Of
control in thick woods. It
raced for acres in all direc-
tions.
Today, around the inter-
section Of Route 8 and the
old Generals Highway"
which comes up from Annap-
oils, fields and woods lie
blackened in a crazy quilt
pattern.
Near the intersection is a
gas station operated by a
man named Larry Peach. He
is % and has six children
and lives in Severna Park.
II guess it was around II
In the morning" he said,
when I saw the smoke to
the west over there. So I got
in the car and drove over to
mothers and told her there
was nothing to get excited
about. Then I came on
back"
His mother, Mrs. Frank
Peach, is II and formerly
lived up in Ellicott City. She
is a little woman with bright
blue eyes. She moves quickly
and lightly, speaks rapidly.
She is mild and tough and
sharp. If anyone had asked
her, she could easily have
supervised construction of
the Panama Canal.
Mrs. Peach is the mother
Of II children. She has SO
grandchildren.
&%
SINCE LAST OCTOBER,
when her husband died, she
has lived in an old frame
house, said to be close to 200
years old and at one time a
Methodist church.
The house, completely sur
rounded by woods, is just
east of the Generals High
way, and can be reached by
a narrow dirt road which
cuts through the forest for
several hundred yards.
Living with Mrs. Peach has
been one of her daughters,
jeanne, afflicted with heart
trouble.
About noon, last Saturday,
Mrs. Peach and her daughter
had been resting. When they
got up they saw the woods
had burst into flame. They
were surrounded by a wall of
fire, darting towards. the
house across the vegetable
garden.
Come on Joanne," Mrs.
Peach told her daughter,
we're getting out of here"
"Joanne grabbed her heart
medicine and I got some
personal papers" Mrs. Peach
related, "and we went out of
the house. jeanne was deter
mined to drive the car out.
She's got a lot Of spunk, you
know"
But the fire and heat
forced them back.
Meanwhile, a neighbor re-
membered the two women,
alone in the woods.
He drove up, past firemen
and police, out on the high
way, to Larry's gas station.
II hadn't realized the fire."
said Larry, had jumped
across the highway and into
the woods near mother"
THERE WAS NO HESITA-
TION. He got in his car,
raced down the highway and
turned into the little dirt
road.
II couldn't see much," he
said, quietly. But I kept
going. There was smoke and
fire all over the place. I
wouldn't have gone in there
If 1t hadn't been family"
When he reached the
house 1t had just started to
burn.
Mother was yelling and
jeanne was praying" he
said. "They were inside.
When I got inside Mother
said, And iDhere have you
been?'
The three som e how
bumped back out Of the
woods TO the highway.
In the confusion-firemen
were trying TO save some
homes along the highway
Mrs. Peach spotted a Jeep
which carried some fire
fighting equipment. The
driver was not busy at that
moment.
UxryaII - NNw~ nanaA rnIakaA