Harry E. Godt, Jr., died attempting to save Jennifer R., Jon R. R., and Samantha C. Godt from burning, Middletown, Delaware, February 24, 1989. Godt, 34, college student, escaped from his family’s two-story duplex after fire broke out late at night on the first floor and spread. Shouting for his wife, Jennifer, 26, and his children, Jon, 4, and Samantha, 1, Godt re-entered the house, through its front door, but flames on the stairs prevented him from going to the second-floor bedrooms. Returning outside, Godt made attempts at gaining entry to the second floor, as did several passersby, but dense smoke and spreading flames thwarted them. Godt was last seen atop the roof of the unit’s front porch. He was later found, as were his wife and children, inside the structure. All had succumbed to effects of the fire.
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