The Breckenridges lived in a two-story frame dwelling in Bluefield, Virginia. Shortly after midnight on 10 January 1929, the home caught fire with Mrs. Breckenridge and her nine children at home. The fire was fanned by 20 mile per hour winds, and the house was half consumed before any of the sleeping occupants awoke. 16-year-old Edith woke first to see falling embers in the home, and after waking her mother, they rescued four of her siblings with the help of a passerby, Norfolk and Western Railroad employee Mack Tabor. When they tried to go back for the other four children, the wind-whipped flames drove them back, trapping the rest of the young Breckenridges.

Of the five children who escaped, only Edith sustained injuries, from which she recovered.

10-year-old, 8-year-old Margaret, and 5-year-old Dorothy were found dead in the ruins of the home. 14-year-old Hazel was severely burned and died the next day. Funerals for the younger 3 had been planned, but were postponed upon Hazel's death so that all four could take place at once. The badly burned bodies of Margaret, Dorothy, and Daniel were placed in a single casket and buried together.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing Hazel leap from the house as the porch collapsed, with her sisters in her arms and on fire herself. She was said to have died trying to save her sisters. One contemporary report also states that Daniel (misidentified as "Cecil") was also trapped and perished trying to help his younger siblings.

Mr. Breckenridge was a highway officer for the State Motor Vehicle department who was well-known in the Commonwealth. He returned from his work shift about two hours after the fire had died out to find his home destroyed and almost half his family gone.