Published: October 14, 2009 11:32 pm      

Woman dies of fire injuries

Susan Hahn, RHS grad, wrote for area magazines

Bellefonte — A woman injured in a house fire early Saturday morning in Bellefonte has died.

Susan Lynn Douglas Hahn, 53, a former freelance journalist who wrote for several area publications, died Monday in Cabell Huntington Hospital, according to Ricki Gardenhire, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Fire Marshal’s Office, which is investigating the blaze.

The fire was reported at 4:40 a.m. in a residence on Franklin Court. Neighbors reported the blaze and were able to rescue another woman from the burning home before the fire department arrived by pulling her out a window.

A male resident of the home also escaped without injury.

Investigators have determined the fire originated in a car parked in a garage attached to the home, Gardenhire said. The flames then spread to the house.

No foul play is suspected, she said.

Hahn’s was the second fire death this year in Boyd and Greenup counties. The last was in February, when 16-month-old Shayla Mullins perished from injuries she suffered in a blaze at her family’s home on Barton Court in Ashland.

During her working career, Hahn held positions at the Robert C. Byrd Institute, the Paramount Arts Center, Adelphia and Armstrong Cable. She also did volunteer work for numerous local nonprofit organizations, and was a freelance writer who had articles published in Bridges Magazine, the Huntington Quarterly and Marshall Magazine.

She left work to care for her father, Charles Douglas Sr., after he was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease, which she was subsequently diagnosed with.

Bridges Editor Lori Wilt said Wednesday that Hahn contributed a number of articles to the magazine during the first two years of its existence. She said she also knew Hahn personally from having attended Marshall with her. Hahn had a master’s degree in journalism from MU.

“She was a good writer and I know she’ll be missed,” Wilt said.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.