By Jerald Jimenez
Dec 26, 2023, 11:59 AM EST
A strong fire consumed her home and killed a 10-year-old girl in Elkton, Maryland, last Monday around 7:40 am, local authorities say.
The Maryland State Fire Department, through its spokesperson, Jason Mowbray, stated that firefighters arrived at the scene after receiving a fire call and found the family outside the home, but were told that a girl was still inside. of the burning house.
A team of 75 firefighters worked for an hour to put out the fire and rescue the minor, but she was found dead inside the residence.
According to authorities, the family was made up of four adults and a 13-year-old teenager, who managed to escape the fire. At the moment, authorities have not revealed their identities or the causes of the fire, which are being investigated.
“All members of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and I extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim. “This is a heartbreaking day for Elkton and the Winding Brook Village community,” Mowbray stated.
Nancy Minor, a neighbor who lives two houses away from the burned house, said that she found out about the incident from a knock on her door.
“I put on some clothes, went downstairs and went out,” Minor said. “My husband told me not to go out, but I told him he needed to know what was happening.”
The neighbor added that she then saw her street full of fire trucks, ambulances and police, and the fire had spread to another nearby house: “I just prayed. “I prayed that they would stop the fire,” she said.
“I can’t imagine waking up on Christmas morning to that and all the other Christmases who will remember this. I just pray that the Lord comforts them and helps them get through this,” noted Minor, who said he did not personally know the family that lost her daughter.
Another neighbor, who preferred not to give her name, told WJZ that she felt deep compassion for the affected family.
“If you have a family, you have children, you have any type of family, this is horrible,” said the neighbor.
The American Red Cross is providing assistance to the victim’s family, as well as the family living in the other home that was damaged by the fire.
With information from CBS News