HURON COUNTY, Ohio — Two children are dead after separate house fires in Huron County this month.
An 8-year-old on East Main Street in Norwalk couldn’t escape the flames on June 7. Neighbor, Michael Fay, watched the fire unfold.
“I was driving home from out of town, and I just happened to be driving in front of the house when the flames burst through the windows,” said Fay.
Fay took a video of the fire as crews responded.
“It’s so sad, and one of the worst parts, of course, is seeing the mother and father on the scene reacting to what was going on, then the news of when they received it,” Fay said.
In a separate incident in Greenwich just days before, an 8-year-old girl also died in a house fire. The smoke and heat became too overwhelming. Neighbor Lisa Stottlemire said it's odd such young lives were taken in back-to-back similar situations.
“Grossed out, sick,” said Lisa Stottlemire. “I kind of feel like it’s not a weird coincidence but a weird tragedy.”
Both fires remain under investigation, but Norwalk Fire Chief, Dan Strayer, believes there were no working smoke detectors in the East Main Street home.
“It was just one of those situations where no matter what we did, the outcome would probably be the same,” said Strayer.
As more children tend to stay home alone during the summer months as parents work, Strayer urges families to go over safety action plans, change smoke detector batteries, and, if they smell smoke, shut the door and try to find another way out.
“Those are the key factors because anytime you breathe in an abnormal amount of smoke, it starts to affect your lungs, it starts to affect your thoughts, and you eventually pass out,” Strayer added. “So, it's one of those things; if you have to stay in place, we will come find you.”
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