A 60-year-old woman and her 8-year-old great-grandchild were killed in a house fire on Cleveland's west side Wednesday morning.
The fire started around 2:45 a.m. at a house on the 3400 block of Granton Avenue.
Fire officials said the great-grandmother and her great-granddaughter were inside the house at the time of the fire.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they pulled 60-year-old Cathy Miller and her 8-year-old great grandchild Kihlee Richardson from the house before resuscitation efforts began.
EMS took them to the Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital but they did not survive.
Family members arrived on scene visibly distraught. Bob Meeker, the brother of Cathy Miller, said they all came back from a family vacation two weeks ago.
Miller lived with her granddaughter and great-granddaughter. The mother of Kihlee, who is studying to become a paramedic, came home to the house on fire.
Chief Angelo Calvillo of the Cleveland Fire Department said there were smoke detectors inside the house but they were not properly working.
"They were not working smoking detectors and that's a message we want to get across to everybody. If you have a smoke alarm at home, test it to check the smoke detector monthly. Make sure that battery is in place to save your life," said he said.
Officials have yet to determine the cause of the fire.
