By Robert Jordan
Dunn Daily Record
ERWIN – An early morning structure fire on Friday, May 5, claimed the life of a well-known Erwin woman, injured her husband and destroyed their home. The blaze remains under investigation, but rumors of an oxygen tank starting the fire were dispelled on Monday.
“This fire is still under investigation,” said Harnett County Fire Marshal Rodney Daniels.
The source of the inferno has been hard to pin down due to the extensive fire damage at the home, but Daniels said there was no evidence of an oxygen tank in use.
Sexton Malcolm Vann was able to escape through a window. His wife, Ann Vann, died in the fire. Ann Vann was a beautician at Studio One Salon and Day Spa in Erwin and active member of Grace Chapel Church.
Sunday was a “very different Sunday” at Grace Chapel.
“We are in the process of grieving the loss of someone who meant so much to our church,” said Pastor Gabriel “Gabe” Landis in a worship service streamed on Facebook Sunday. “Miss Ann is an amazing woman and has left an amazing legacy and I felt led into starting this service because there’s a few things I think that if she could let us know, she would.
“No. 1, stop worrying about her, she’s happy. She’s able to find a healing that we barely can understand. Ann was not someone that spent a lot of time complaining. Actually she spent no time complaining, but she was always there to hear you complain. So I know the first thing she would say is, ‘I’m fine.’ The second is — and I know I’m not the only one that felt this just because in my conversations I heard just about everybody say it — is ‘don’t cry for me’ and that’s tough.
“Sister Pat said it the best: ‘We’re not crying for her. We’re crying for us,’” Landis said, his voice trembling with emotion, “because a piece of our heart is gone.”
Erwin Fire Department & Rescue Squad was dispatched to 144 Red Hill Church Road at 1:01 a.m. in reference to a structure fire called in to 911 by a person passing the scene.
Fire Chief Ricky Blackmon was the first fire officer to get there and reported very heavy flames and smoke upon his arrival. An Erwin police officer reported smoke and fire visible from Denim Drive and Masonic Road in the area.
The first fire engine arrived at 1:07 a.m. and crews immediately began fire suppression efforts. The flames were too heavy for firefighters to get inside the home until it was too late. The roof collapsed as the inferno ate away at the house and spread to the cars in its driveway.
The fire was extinguished hours later, but heavy smoke remained, temporarily stalling an investigation.
Daniels said investigators were “waiting for daylight” to help them search for evidence as to the cause of the fire on Friday. The investigation continued on Monday as a sad community continued to mourn the loss of a great woman.
A scripture from the fourth chapter of the Book of John in the Bible was illuminated next to a photo of Ann Vann on a screen behind Landis.
“… The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24)”
Landis said Ann Vann was worshiping God “in spirit and truth.”
“There is not a person in this church that has not been touched by the legacy of Miss Ann,” her pastor said.
Grace Chapel is coordinating efforts to help the Vann family.
