Saturday fire claims three members of Cherokee family

By Lisa Majors-Duff

Tribal firefighters were called to the two-story house on Stillwell Branch at about 4:30 a.m. Dec. 28, according to Tommy Lambert, the department's education officer. Thirteen firemen answered the call for assistance with five trucks, he said.

"(The house) was fully engulfed before the trucks arrived," Assistant Chief Mernie Taylor said.

While the family's father and one daughter managed to escape the blaze, three family members perished in their upstairs bedrooms, Lambert said. Dead are mother Glenda Davis Arch, 40, son James Daniel Arch Jr., 13, and daughter Lauran Paige Arch, 5.

After getting 11-year-old daughter Jasmine out of the house, father James Arch attempted to rescue the other family members, Taylor said.

"He got the one girl out and tried to get the others, but he couldn't," Taylor said. "He had to come back out."

"The dad had burns on his back, feet and hand," Lambert said of Arch, who received medical treatment for his injuries.

Fighting the fire, the cause of which was unknown at press time Monday, was especially difficult for firemen on the scene because of the severe cold temperatures Saturday morning, Lambert said.

"It was really cold," he said. "The water was freezing on the road, and the hoses were freezing. We had a hard time getting trucks back in after they went out for more water."

Funeral services were scheduled for all three family members Tuesday at Piney Grove Baptist Church, where Glenda Arch, a housekeeper at Cherokee's Best Western hotel, was a member.

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