14 People Die in Milwaukee, New York Fires

Fire in a New York home where 14 people were sleeping killed seven people and seriously injured two others early today, while a fire that swept through a Wisconsin home occupied by 14 people also killed seven people, authorities said.

All seven victims of the fire at Wyandanch, N.Y., were found on the second story of the home when the blaze was brought under control after burning for more than three hours, police Sgt. Charles Giordano said.

Five of the dead were huddled in one bed in the front upstairs bedroom. A sixth was at the bedroom window and the seventh in the rear bedroom of the upper floor.

The victims of the fire, children and grandchildren of the couple who own the home, ranged in age from 9 months to 20 years, said Phyllis Shedrick, a daughter of the couple. Shedrick’s infant daughter was among those killed in the fire.

Daughter Hospitalized

The head of the house, John Shedrick, 52, was severely burned and taken to the burn unit of Stony Brook Hospital, said his wife, Jeannette, 43, who was unharmed. She said her daughter Eva, 27, also was hospitalized.

Milwaukee officials said the blaze there started on the first floor in the rear of a two-story frame building and spread to the upper floor. Rear exits were blocked by flames and those who escaped got out front exits, acting Deputy Fire Chief Howard Glassel said.

The bodies of five of the victims were found on the second floor, and one was on the first floor. The seventh body was discovered in the basement, and apparently had fallen through the stairs from the first floor, Battalion Chief William Voboril said.

On Thursday, a fire in a 135-year-old hotel in High Point, N.C., killed five people. The fire consumed the top floor of the Biltmore Hotel in High Point.