‘A PRECIOUS HUMAN’

19-Year-Old Bride Dies in House Fire on Wedding Day

Paige Ruddy had privately exchanged vows with her fiancée just the day before.

A 19-year-old bride has tragically died in a house fire in Wisconsin on the day she was meant to tie the knot. Paige Ruddy had already exchanged vows with her husband-to-be Logan Mitchell-Carter on Monday ahead of a small planned ceremony with close family and friends at the Sauk County Courthouse, her family said. When the home—which Mitchell-Carter’s grandparents owned—became engulfed in flames the next day, she was rushed to the hospital for smoke inhalation and later died of a brain hemorrhage Wednesday. Ruddy had just graduated from high school in June 2022. Although the cause of the fire is unclear, Ruddy’s aunt Holly told WMTV that the family believes there were no working smoke detectors in the home. “She was just a precious human. There was nothing about her that you couldn’t like,” Holly said. “She was this presence you never knew you needed in your life, but always did.” Her loved ones have organized a GoFundMe to support the Ruddy family’s medical expenses and funeral costs.