ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701240069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PIPERS GAP
SOURCE: A.W. HAUSLOHNER LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
A HOUSE FIRE that killed two children Tuesday has left a Carroll County community in shock - and wanting to help a family that always helped its neighbors.
Bobby Spicer isn't sure who will put his grandson on the school bus in the mornings now.
Jerry Felts no longer has a neighbor close by to take care of his home and cattle when he and his wife have to take their daughter for treatment of cerebral palsy.
Felts and Spicer are just two of the residents of this Carroll County community who have been touched by the fatal fire that destroyed the Spears family's home Tuesday morning, just two of the many people who were helped by - and who care about - Edward and Iva Spears and their four children.
Before dawn Tuesday, a fire that apparently started from one of the two wood stoves engulfed the house, killing the two youngest children, Mark, 12, and John, 13. The two were asleep in a bedroom directly above one of the stoves.
Matthew Spears, a ninth-grader at Carroll County Intermediate School, told his grandmother, Kathleen Spears, that he could not get into his brothers' bedroom because the door was too hot.
He could not open the window in his room because of the heat, either. He broke the glass, crawled out on the kitchen roof and climbed down a tree.
He suffered first-and second-degree burns, and on Tuesday was transferred to the Shriners Burn Institute in Cincinnati. Kathleen Spears said Matthew's prognosis is good.
Edward Spears remains in North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem with facial burns and lung damage from smoke inhalation. He suffered small cuts on his hands from breaking a window in an attempt to get to the boys. "He kept feeling inside and yelling for them," Kathleen Spears said.
Iva Spears accompanied Matthew to Cincinnati. She was at work as a private duty nurse when the fire broke out.
A daughter, 16-year-old Jennifer, escaped unharmed.
Kathleen Spears has been busy taking phone calls, updating family members on the latest news and taking offers of help from the community.
Iva Spears' sister owns a trailer on the Spearses' property, which the family may move into. They've also had two other mobile homes offered to them, rent-free.
"I'm just writing all this down, and I'm going to let them decide," Kathleen Spears said. "It's unbelievable what people have called and offered to do.''
Kathleen Spears has taken many calls, has heard the same question and has given the same answers. She thanks everyone who calls. In one case, it was Pastor Faye Snow. "Just remember us in your prayers - that's all we ask for," Kathleen Spears requested.
She said she hopes people know "how much we appreciate everything that everyone has done. That means a lot to know you've got that many friends."
People in Pipers Gap say the Spearses are friends to the community. Jerry Felts, who worked with Edward Spears at the Southwest Virginia Training Center, described them as "wonderful neighbors."
"My mom was close to the family," he said. "Iva, when my mom was sick, would always be down there taking care of mom.''
"The whole thing is kind of a nightmare. It's hard to get out of your mind. [Mark and John] are sure going to be missed in our community."
Two people who already miss the family are Bobby and Terry Spicer. Iva Spears used to pick up Terry, 13, every morning on her way home from a night's work, so he could wait for the school bus with her children.
Terry lives with his grandfather, Bobby, who has to leave early for work.
Terry has been friends with John and Mark Spears since they all began kindergarten. He remembers going to 4-H camp with Matthew and Jennifer, wrestling on the lawn with Mark while waiting for the school bus, and testing his skills against John's in scaling a wall at the back of the house. Mark was the good student. John was the woodworker, good with his hands.
Contributions to the Spears Trust Fund may be made at any Bank of Carroll branch or at Bank of Carroll, P.O. Box 1102, Galax 24333.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: The Spears family - (back row, from left) Jennifer,by CNBJohn, Matthew and Mark, and (front row) parents Iva and Edward -
have always been considered friends to Pipers Gap. KEYWORDS: FATALITY