The entire community of Flora, Indiana has been shattered after 4 sisters died in a house fire.
“They never stopped smiling. Ever”
The four sisters were Kionnie Precious Welch, 5, Kerriele Danyell McDonald, 7, Kayara Janell Phillips, 9, and Keyana Latrice Davis, 11. They were members of the Lafayette Diamonds Cheer team, and had just finished competing in a cheering competition the weekend before the house fire.
According to their cheerleading coach, Allie Sheets: “They never stopped smiling. ever. I can’t ever think of a time that they weren’t smiling. They were always happy, always joyful, helpful, and they were the most respectful girls I’ve ever seen.”
Their mother, Gaylin Rose, is currently recovering in a hospital. A deputy, who got injured while he was trying to rescue the girls is currently in the hospital, but reports say that he is stable and doing well.
The smoke detector had no batteries
Investigators have yet to identify the exact cause of the blaze, due to the extent of the damage, but they have already ruled out foul play. However, they think that it might have started on the first floor of the home, in an area behind the refrigerator.
Additionally, they also found that there was a smoke detector upstairs, but it didn’t have any batteries; if the smoke detector worked, it could have possibly have saved their lives.
The entire community has gathered for a prayer vigil in a church across the street from the burned home. After the vigil, they dropped off roses as well as stuffed toys at the burned home.
Go to the next page to learn more about preventing house fires.
Preventing house fires
Accidents can happen. However, accidents aren’t inevitable, they are preventable. That’s why it’s very important to know what steps we can do to protect our home as well as our family.
Here are some tips on preventing house fires:
- Keep safe when cooking. Fire safety at home starts in the kitchen. Make sure to keep anything that can catch fire, such as oven mitts, towels, or curtains, away from your stove. You should also never leave anything cooking on your stove top unattended.
- Don’t smoke inside the home. Smoking is also a leading cause of fires in the home. If you or anyone in your family smokes, make sure to take it outside. Better yet, quit smoking to completely eliminate any fire risk as well as health risks.
- Check your electrical cords. Electrical cords are also another leading cause of house fires. A lot of fires have started because of faulty wiring or improper use of extension cords. Make sure to check your cords for any damage, and avoid plugging a lot of appliances in a single extension cord.
- Avoid open flame. Instead of using candles, you can instead use rechargeable lights in case of blackouts. That way, you can avoid open flames in your home.
- Always have a smoke detector in your home. Smoke detectors are important to have in your home. They not only help prevent fires but they’ll alert you beforehand to any risk. You also have to make sure to check that the smoke detectors are working, and the batteries still have power.
In the unlikely event that a fire breaks out in your home, here are some additional safety tips to keep your family safe:
- Make sure that everyone in your home knows of at least two ways to escape. Escaping your home is the most important thing to do if a fire breaks out. Make sure that everyone knows of at least 2 different ways to escape since fires can break out anywhere.
- In the event of a fire, you’ll only have 2 minutes to escape. Make sure to do fire drills and check how fast you can escape from your home. On average, you’ll only have 2 minutes to escape, so practice, practice, practice!
- Stay low or crawl if there’s smoke. Smoke is actually the main cause of why people die in fires. Smoke inhalation and suffocation is a very real danger, so make sure to stay low and crawl since smoke goes up.
- Stop, drop, and roll. If you or any member of your family catches fire on their clothes, you should stop, drop, and roll to immediately take out the flame.
Sources: youtube.com, fox59.com, money.usnews.com, redcross.org
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