Two Killed in Aberdeen Fire

ABERDEEN – Two people were found dead after a raging fire tore through a home off U.S. 15-501 on Wednesday morning, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.

The bodies recovered from the home at 257 Heflin Road are believed to be 81-year-old Judith Seabolt and her daughter, 60-year-old Patricia Rogers. Both lived in the home near Pinebluff, deputies said.

Neighbors say Seabolt had been staying with her mother to care for her.

“They were wonderful people,” said Nancy Lindroth, a relative who was going through the house looking for valuables to save.

Firefighters were called about 7:30 a.m. after one of the women called 911 and reported her kitchen was on fire, said John McKiver, chief of the Pinebluff Fire Department. The woman reported she was trapped inside, prompting firefighters to race to the home for a rescue mission.

When the first crews arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames with heavy smoke, he said.

“The first fireman … arrived on scene but was unable to gain entry because of the heavy fire,” McKiver said. “There was not a whole lot we could do.”

About 25 firefighters from multiple departments worked to contain the fire so they could get inside to look for the occupants, he said. But the fire was burning so strongly that it took about three hours for that to happen, he said.

“It was a pretty heavy fire load,” he said.

The home was a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation, although McKiver said it did not appear to be suspicious.

Neighbor Dorothy Hudson, 80, said she woke up Wednesday and went outside to see flames shooting out of the two-story home and leaping high over the treetops. She wasn’t sure if her neighbors were home as she watched the flames consume the structure.

“I thought about that daughter. She slept in the upstairs bedroom,” Hudson said. “They didn’t have a chance.”

Hudson said she sometimes would go visit Seabolt, who lived next door for about 15 years. She would sit on a swing with them on occasion and talk about the weather, politics, religion or just about anything.

Seabolt and Rogers attended Page Memorial United Methodist Church before Seabolt started having trouble getting around, Hudson said.

“They were just nice people, and they were quiet,” Hudson said. “They’re in heaven now. I know they are.”

PRIMARY AGENCY: Pinebluff Fire Department


INCIDENT TYPE: Working Fire