Names of Olustee fire victims released

By Hailey R. Branson

Published: June 19, 2008

OLUSTEE — The names of a young mother and her two children who were killed in a house fire Wednesday morning have been released by the state medical examiner's office.

Laura Marez, 20, and her sons, Elijah Molina, 2, and Eliasar Marez, 4, died of smoke inhalation after a fire destroyed their home at 502 I St., said Kevin Rowland, chief investigator for the medical examiner's office. Their bodies were examined in Oklahoma City this morning.

Bodies discovered after fire extinguished

A window air conditioning unit is believed to have started the fire that destroyed Marez's wood-frame house, Olustee Police Chief Victor Martinez said. The three bodies were not discovered until after the fire was extinguished.

Marez and her sons were believed to have lived alone, said JoAnne Sellars, operations chief for the state fire marshal.

The bodies were discovered in a room that had a window, Sellars said. The house had no smoke detectors.

Sellars said a call was made to the state fire marshal at about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday at the request of the Jackson County sheriff's department.

A reporting person had said flames were coming through the roof. By the time firefighters arrived, the structure was fully engulfed in flames.

Firefighters from the Olustee, Altus and Martha fire departments responded to the blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Family watched fire

Most of Marez's family lives on the same block, according to Olustee Public Schools Superintendent Roger Allen. The school is near Marez's house.

Olustee is about 13 miles southwest of Altus, where a fire destroyed a church early Thursday morning.