Georgia Douglas, Jerry Williamson Jr. Killed in Ardmore, OK, Fire Accident
Ardmore, OK -- February 1, 2017, Georgia May Douglas and Jerry Williamson Jr. were killed due to an accident where their house caught fire.
According to the Ardmore Fire Department, the fire broke out around 10:30 p.m. at their home in the 1100 block of Martin Luther King Drive.
Investigators say that both victims were asleep when the fire broke out. Of the six people in the home, four made it out okay. 6-year-old Williamson and 73-year-old Douglas were not able to escape.
The exact cause of death has not been reported at this time. Investigators say the fire possibly broke out due to a space heater, but these reports have not been confirmed.
Investigations are ongoing.
Map of the Area
Commentary
It's unfortunately common to see house fires like this one start due to space heaters being used improperly, though it would appear this hasn't been officially reported as the cause of the fire, rather a possibility. It's important that these kinds of accidents are thoroughly investigated. For instance, it may have started from the space heater, but was it improperly used or defective? If it's the latter, then that's a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
Think of defects in a car. Let's say that some particular model of vehicle has a defect which can lead to fatalities on the road. Whether or not this is a common occurrence, it is a fundamental flaw in how the machine was built, and it can happen to pretty much anyone. For this reason, when a problem like this occurs, it needs to be addressed before anyone else is harmed.
The same goes for home appliances. It's easy enough to say the victims misused the technology and leave it at that, but what if that's not the case? In recent years, we've seen explosions occur with smart phones, e-cigarettes, gaming consoles, even washing machines. When the cause of a fire is due to a product defect, then it's imperative that the company responsible is held accountable for the harm done. Maybe it turns out to be a simple accident, or maybe it ends up being the result of irresponsible and negligent business practices.
In the end there are two main reasons to ensure a thorough investigations is conducted. The first is that the victims and their families deserve to know exactly what caused the accident. The only thing worse than being affected by one of these tragedies is not knowing or being misinformed about what caused it. The second reason is that if the cause of the accident could happen to others, then it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. A quick or shallow investigation could be leaving others' lives at risk, and that's simply not acceptable.
--Grossman Law Offices
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