COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A community is grieving the loss of two elderly women, killed when a fast-moving fire consumed much of the historic home in which they lived.
The fire broke out early Tuesday morning at the home along Church Street in Marietta.
"Oh, I just feel so sad for the family I wish I'd gotten to know my neighbors a little more. Just hate that this happened," said neighbor Miranda Gillis.
The fire shocked many in this historic neighborhood. Most told Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt they knew that Harold Willingham's widow lived in the home, but didn't know her sister did as well.
"She was a very quiet reserved individual, helpful in the neighborhood," said neighbor Ron Mercure.
Many know the 1920's-era house as the Willingham House. Harold Willingham was a prominent lawyer and legislator in Cobb County who had died in 2000.
"My heart is just broken because of Judy and Andrea and their families but it's also broken because of this house, because I grew up in this house and I hate to see it this way," said Judy McCall-Smith, Willingham’s stepdaughter.
"The sunroom was the main source of the fire however there was heat and smoke damage throughout the entire structure," said Tim Milligan with the Marietta Fire Department.
"It was definitely an out of control fire as soon as we saw it," said neighbor Miranda Gillis.
Gillis said a passerby on Church Street pounded on her door. She called 911. Firefighters said they were on the scene within six minutes and struggled to find the women, first searching the bedrooms but eventually finding both behind the front door.
"It appears they were trying to escape the building,” Milligan said.
Cox Media Group
