Mother, 3 children die in Conway fire

Lindsey Droste, an officer with Conway Animal Welfare, carries a dog that belonged to a mother and three young children who died in a house fire Monday night in Conway. The dog was the only survivor of the blaze.
Lindsey Droste, an officer with Conway Animal Welfare, carries a dog that belonged to a mother and three young children who died in a house fire Monday night in Conway. The dog was the only survivor of the blaze.

— Just hours before flames spread through Jennifer Cissell’s home, killing her and her three children Monday evening, she had been planning what she’d cook for Christmas dinner.

Neighbor Wanda Jones said Tuesday that she and Cissell had talked at 3 p.m. Monday as Cissell watched her children - Gwenneth, Christopher and Arley Snobgrass, ages 5, 4 and 3, respectively - play in the backyard of their home at 124 Conway Blvd.

“She said, ‘Miss Wanda, can I borrow your roasting pan to cook a turkey in?’” Jones remembered as fire investigators searched the home next door for clues to what caused the blaze.

“It’s just awful,” Jones said of the deaths of Cissell and her children.

Coroner Patrick Moore said he believes all four died from smoke inhalation.

Moore said Cissell wasfound in the living room, and the three children were in the bathroom.

Conway police Lt. Susan Wilson said Tuesday that firefighters believe the fire started in the stove because of the way it was connected to the gas line.

Conway Fire Chief Bart Castleberry said investigators have ruled out arson, but he added that the cause still is officially classified as “undetermined.”

Cissell’s husband, Chris-topher Snobgrass, was at a friend’s house when a neighbor called 911 at 8:09 p.m. Monday to report the fire.

A neighbor, who declined Tuesday to give her name because she feared the fire had been intentionally set, kicked in the front door of the house, but heavy smoke and flames prevented her from going inside.

That neighbor and an older woman, who also declined to give her name, said they could hear someone inside the house gasping for air.

They said the family had been renting the house on Conway Boulevard for about two years and that Jennifer Cissell was like family.

“She was a good mother,” the older woman said.

Jones echoed that description, describing Cissell as a protective mother who always kept her house and children clean.

Jones said Gwenneth had recently started school at nearby Sallie Cone Elementary and that Cissell would walk or drive her every day.

The two neighbors who declined to give their names also said Cissell was very forgiving. In mid-August, Cissell called police to report that her husband had grabbed her by the neck, choked her, punched her in the face and threatened to kill her, according to reports.

Conway police arrested Snobgrass on domestic battery and obstructing government operations charges, andhe is to go to trial Jan. 13.

“She told me she loved him,” the older neighbor said.

A judge issued a temporary order of protection banning Snobgrass from the family’s home, but less than a month later Cissell wrote the judge a note asking him to lift the ban.

“I believe we can work things out between us,” she wrote in thick, bubbly cursive. “The kids & I would like to go see him from time to time.”

Wilson, with the Police Department, said Snobgrass was living at the home on Conway Boulevard with his wife and children and that police do not consider the fire a criminal matter.

“It’s nothing more than a tragic accident,” Wilson said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 12/23/2009

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