Friends and neighbors mourn Mason woman lost in blaze
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The smell of smoke still permeates the air on Castanea Drive in Mason, where Aslee Engleman died in a fire.
Her pastor, J.D. Childers of the Mason First Church of God said he is numb.
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"She was a dear precious saint, a prayer warrior," he said. "She always had a smile on her face, no matter what she was going through. It didn't matter if she was in pain or struggling, she still had a smile on her face and had something encouraging to say to everybody."
Her next door neighbor, Conley Reed wiped tears from his eyes as he described what he witnessed at around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14.
"I went to bed at around 9 p.m. and woke up at about 9:30 p.m. and heard screaming and dogs barking, so I dialed 911, because I thought something bad had happened," Reed said. "They told me there was fire over there. The house was just engulfed in flames. Terry was wanting to help her mother but she couldn't get to her. It's terrible."
Engleman was in the back of the house which was engulfed in flames. Engleman's daughter Terry Dowers was able to escape the fire, and her husband Scott and their two children, Seth, 10 and Kanian, 4, were at WalMart when the blaze broke out, Reed said. The family stayed the night with friends in the neighborhood.
Childers said he met with the family and they are doing as well as can be expected. Since he is a chaplain for the Mason Fire Department, he could not discuss the details of the fire, but he said the flames and heat were so intense, despite her every effort, Terry couldn't save her mother.
The State Fire Marshal's Office said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but preliminary reports indicate it was electrical.
The fire has displaced a family of four. Childers has set up an account for the family. Donations can be made at any Lebanon Citizens National Bank for the Dowers family.
Several parishioners gathered at the end of her street last night as firefighters from Mason, Deerfield Twp., Lebanon and Loveland battled the blaze that destroyed the home.
"Everybody called her Lee," Reed said. "She loved to go to church, her grand kids and her flowers."
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4525 or dcallahan@coxohio.com.
