Virginia R. Grogan died attempting to save Gabriel I., Michael V., and Thomas P. Grogan from burning, Gloucester, Virginia, January 16, 2013. Brothers Gabriel, 6 months; Michael, 2; and Thomas, 7, and their mother were asleep in a second-floor bedroom of their family’s home after fire erupted at night in the living room, which was below the bedroom, on the first floor. The boys’ grandmother, Grogan, 54, college student and retired military officer, alerted the mother to the fire and then with her husband climbed through a window in their bedroom to the roof of the front porch. They went along the roof to a window in the boys’ bedroom, gained access to the room, and pulled the boys’ mother from the house. As Grogan’s husband aided the mother to ground level, Grogan entered the bedroom for the boys. Realizing that she had re-entered the house, her husband called to her and the boys but received no response. Flames grew to engulf and destroy the structure. Firefighters later located the boys in the bedroom and Grogan in the living room, all having succumbed to smoke inhalation.
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