Newspaper clippings from the March 1941 Minneapolis Morning Tribune:

Woman Dies in Farm Blaze near City

Husband, Son
Fight Sudden
Kitchen Fire

Sight Smoke 15 Minutes After Going to Barn; Find Woman Dead

A farm woman living near Robbinsdale was burned to death today in a blaze which apparently flared up in the kitchen of her home. Mrs. Emily Pomerleau, 47, living on Merchant's crossroad a mile and a half off Rockford road and about six miles from Robbinsdale, was

Mrs. Emily Pomerleau
Dead in Rockford Road Fire
found by her husband, Maxim, 58, and son, Ralph, 25, when they saw smoke gushing from a kitchen window shortly after they had left the house. They had gone to the barn about 8:15 a.m. and at 8:30 a.m. saw the smoke. They ran to the house but found both front and back door locked. They broke in a door and found Mrs. Pomerleau lying just outside the kitahen door in the living room, most of the clothing burned from her body. She was dead. They fought the blaze, which was confined to the kitchen, and neighbors ran over and helped them put it out. There was a partially-filled can of kerosene in the kitchen, but no evidence any of it had been used. It had not been touched by the flames. Mr. Pomerleau was burned about the face and hands and was treated by a Robbinsdale physician. A younger son, Maurice, 11, had started for school.
Later, this undated update:

Fire Death Held Mishap

Came From Cleaning With Gasoline

Death of Mrs. Maxim Pomerleau, 47, Merchants crossroad near Rockford road, six miles from Robbinsdale, was a probable accident, the coroner ruled following an investigation of the fire in which she lost her life.

She apparently was cleaning clothes in a basin of gasoline which exploded. The flames seared her heed and body and, gushing upward, knocked plaster loose from the ceiling. She was found by her husband, Maxim, and son, Ralph, 25, when they saw smoke issuing from the kitchen.

They found her body just outside the kitchen, the clothing virtually burned away.

Another clipping from a Minneapolis paper:

Woman Burned To Death in Kitchen Fire

Mrs. Maxim Pomerleau, 47, residing on Merchants crossroad in Plymouth township near Robbinsdale, burned to death when fire destroyed the Kitchen of her home.

Mrs. Maxim Pomerleau

Her husband, Maxim, 56, and his son, Ralph, 25, were working in their barn when they saw smoke from the kitchen windows.

They ran to the kitchen door and found it locked. When they found the front door also locked, the two men broke a window and crawled into the living-room. On the floor of the room, Mrs. Pomerleau lay dead, her head and body burned.

The two men put out the blaze in the kitbhen with buckets of water. The elder Pomerleau was burned about the face, hands and arms while extinguishing the blaze. He was given hospital treatment. A wood stove was used in the kitchen. There wasn't any sign of an explosion.

Shortly before the fire broke out, Mrs. Pomerleau's son by a previous marriage, Morse Houle, 10, had left for school. Mrs. Pomerleau is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Lorraine Pouliot, Plymouth township, and Mrs. Dorothy Crepeau, Minneapolis. The coroner's office was investigating the case.

Note: Although the newpaper lists Lorraine and Dorothy as sisters, they are in fact Emily's daughters. The 1930 US Federal Census lists Dorothy and Lorraine as Emily Gagnon's daughters, and Maurice as her 2 year old son. Emily was a widow from a previous marriage to Henry Houle. If Emily was 47 when she died in 1941, it follows that she was born about 1894. Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) lists Dorothy Crepeau born in December, 1914 and Lorraine Pouliot born in 1918, at which time Emily would have been 20 and 24 years old, respectively. The mother's maiden name, Gagnon, is the same as Emily's maiden name.

Later, this update:

Withhold Verdict On Woman Burned To Death in Home

The coroner's verdict was held in abeyance today as deputy sheriffs investigated the mysterious fire in which Mrs. Maxim Pomerleau, 41, was burned to death yesterday in her home in Plymouth township, near Robbinsdale.

Dr. Emil Johnson,,deputy coroner, last night after an autopsy, said the verdict likely will be "a probable accident."

Authorities said the evidence indicates Mrs. Pomerleau was cleaning clothes in a basin of gasoline near the kitchen stove and that the gasoline was ignited. The Portion of the kitchen around the stove was burned. Also damaged by fire was a room across the kitchen from the stove. Deputies said this room probably caught fire when Mrs. Pomerleau, her clothing afire, ran to the room. She was found in the living-room, a few steps from the kitchen.

When her husband and stepson, Ralph Pomerleau, 25, broke into the house after finding the doors locked, they found her lying dead on a living-room rug. There was nothing to indicate she had rolled on the rug to put out the flames in her clothing.