Mother, two young daughters killed in N.H. fire

FRANKLIN, N.H.—Beth MacDonald's dedication to her daughters shone through as she frantically tried to rescue the two youngest from an Easter morning fire.

All three died as a 19th century carriage house bloomed into flames and collapsed within 45 minutes.

Fire officials identified the victims as Mrs. MacDonald and daughters Molly, 11, and Jenny, 9.

The girls had spent the night in the 2 1/2-story building, which is about 30 yards from their home, after decorating it for Easter.

Their parents woke at about 5 a.m. Sunday to the smell of smoke. While their father George called for help, their mother rushed into the building to try to save them. George MacDonald tried to enter the building after calling 911, but was driven back by flames.

"My little girls and my wife were angels," he said. "She was well-known around town, an assistant teacher, in PTO. My little girls were just sweethearts ... just good little girls, just good little girls."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

"They had been planning for Easter as a family," said State Fire Marshal William Degnan. "The children wanted to camp out (in the carriage house). It was something exciting for them to do."

Degnan said the carriage house was heated and insulated. It had an office and a workshop on the first floor and a recreation room on the second floor, where the girls spent the night. Yard equipment was stored in a half-basement.

Degnan said the century-old wood-frame building was quickly engulfed in flames. He said firefighters arrived in minutes, but it was too late.

Jay Bowers, who lives two doors away, was warming up his car when he heard screaming and ran back inside his home to call for help.

"By the time I hung up the phone, it was engulfed in flames. It was that quick," he said.

Bowers said he and his wife have known the MacDonalds for about eight years.

"We initially thought it was just the barn," said Bowers. "This is devastating."

Mrs. MacDonald was a teacher's aide at the Bessie Rowell Elementary School, where Jenny, her youngest daughter, was in third grade. She also was president of the school's parent-teacher organization.

"She was a very dedicated wife, mother, and teacher's aide," said third-grade teacher Marge Edwards.

Edwards said Mrs. MacDonald was always there for fundraisers and other events involving the schools or the community.

Joyce Baca, president of the middle school PTO, said Mrs. MacDonald volunteered to help with basketball concessions, helped fulfill teacher wish-lists and chaperoned class field trips. When the city's chamber of commerce ran a sportsman's show, "Beth was there from start to finish, up 'till the next day when they took the leftover food to a soup kitchen," said Baca. "Every activity we had going on, Beth was part of. ... If something needed to be done, she was the first one to do it."

Mayor Kenneth Merrifield said the community will be devastated.

"It's times like this when we need to rely on our faith and the community," he said.

School Board Chairwoman Katharine Fuller said a crisis team would be in all the schools Monday for students, teachers and parents.

Molly MacDonald was a fifth-grader at Franklin Middle School. A third daughter, 15-year-old Sarah, who was home at the time of the fire but not in the carriage house, attends Franklin High School.

The deaths came two days before the scheduled 50th anniversary celebration of the Bessie Rowell school. The students had written a play and Gov. John Lynch is scheduled to speak.

"Knowing what this meant to Beth and the students, we believe it will go forward, but at this point we're not sure," Fuller said.