This morning we told you two residents died in the fire on Eighth Avenue, and that we would say their names when we had them. We have them now — from the family who loved them, standing on that same street.
Her name was Tanya Rogers. His name was John Poteat. Husband and wife. Neighbors for more than twenty years in Browntown — the kind of people who aren’t just on a street, they’re part of it.
Their daughter, Janene Peterson, was alerted by text around 2:40 this morning. The home Tanya and John had shared for two decades was already fully involved — fire on all three floors of the rowhome at Eighth Avenue and Maryland Avenue. The couple was on the third floor.
Wilmington’s firefighters went in anyway. The heat, the damage, the second floor partially giving way — they were forced back out, and by the time the fire was beaten down and crews made it back inside, Tanya and John were gone, found in a bedroom. Two firefighters were hurt — minor injuries, treated and released.
On the sidewalk this morning, Tanya’s sister Sharon Osborne said it the way it is: “My older sister’s gone. Her and her husband.”
The Wilmington Fire Department has not yet officially released the couple’s names, and the cause of the fire is still unknown. The names above come from the family, who shared them publicly because they wanted their people known — not as “two residents,” but as Tanya and John.
Twenty years on one street. That’s not a statistic. That’s a neighborhood losing two of its own.
Hold each other a little tighter tonight, Wilmington — and if this family crosses your feed, show them some love.
Original story: https://shoptalkweekly.substack.com/p/they-went-in-the-fire-drove-them
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