Georgia town mourns loss of family to fire as investigators comb through remains of blaze

TRION, Ga. - The scene where six lives were claimed by a fire late Sunday was eerily quiet Monday morning as investigators combed for clues in the charred debris of a mobile home.

By Monday afternoon, Chattooga County, Ga., Sheriff Mark Schrader had identified the victims of the fire as 29-year-old Bradley Jones; 22-year-old Demi J. Jones; their children, 5-year-old Clair M. Jones, 3-year-old Lola R. Jones, and 3-month-old Oliva J. Jones; and 5-year-old Jada M. Kendrick, cousin to the other children.

Schrader, who has two children around the same age as the young victims, said Kendrick was spending the night with the Jones children at their home on Airport Road north of Trion. An officer at the sheriff's office is related to the family, making it a tragedy among the county's law enforcement family, too.

Unofficially, authorities suspect the fire may have been sparked by a wood heater recently placed in the home, Schrader said.

The state fire marshal is still investigating the cause, but Schrader said there was no indication foul play was involved.

Firefighters found the mobile home fully engulfed when they arrived about 11 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff said.

Neighbors and onlookers vividly recalled the cries they heard from family members and friends at the scene.

Among the stricken family members at the scene of the fire was Jada Kendrick's mother, the sheriff said.

"I could hear the screams; they were trying to tear the trailer apart to get to them," a shaken Niki Bryant said. She lives just down Airport Road from the Jones home.

"They stayed to themselves and they took care of their children," Bryant said. "I feel so sorry for that family."

Bryant said her brother and Bradley Jones hung out on occasion at the Jones home, where they had lived for a "quite a bit of a while."

Tyler Bishop, a freelance writer in Chattooga County and elsewhere, got to the scene not long after the fire department. He said it was immediately clear something terrible had happened.

"It was too quiet. You could tell something was wrong. You could see it in the firefighters' faces," Bishop said.

Snellville resident Ali Ali, a family friend, said he was "shocked" by the loss.

"I mean, it's a very small community and everyone knows the family very well," Ali said. "They were very nice, very helpful to the community."

Family spokespeople on Monday said relatives of the victims are devastated.

"It happens to everybody; you see it in the news," said Landon Jones, Bradley Jones' brother, of deadly house fires during cold weather. "And it happened to us last night."

Jones said the victims' families will need financial help in the wake of the six deaths, but it could be a few days before accounts are set up for donations.

Sharon Pope, spokeswoman for the family of Demi Jones, said the family most needs support in a time of great grief.

"We're just asking for prayers. It's such a very tragic situation," Pope said. "It's horrific to lose a whole family."

Remaining family members are "not doing well at all," she said.

Pope said more information will be announced later about how to help.

In the wake of the deadly fire, Schrader urged residents to install smoke detectors if they don't have them and to make sure batteries are fresh in detectors already installed.

As media and law enforcement crowded the roadside, a mail carrier in a small, white Jeep trundled along his route, stopping in front of the burned-out home.

He shook his head after depositing mail into the box marked "1120."

"It's a sad day," he said.

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