8 Killed in Blaze in Mobile Home

A fast-moving fire filled a four-bedroom mobile home in Acworth, Ga., with smoke and consumed it within minutes. Eight people were killed, including an infant. The blaze occurred about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta. Officials said the double-wide mobile home did not have a working smoke detector. Linda Joanne Cochran, 36, her four children, a niece, her teenage son’s fiancee and the young couple’s 11-week-old baby all died in the blaze. Five of the bodies were found in a bedroom near the back door and three others were in the front of the mobile home, authorities said. Investigators believe faulty wiring in a clothes dryer started the fire, and it probably smoldered in some clothes before it spread, said John Oxendine, the state insurance and fire commissioner. The flames quickly engulfed the home, which was fully ablaze when firefighters arrived.