Mom, infant escape
Family pet believed to have died in blaze
A young mother’s hair was singed Thursday when she and her 2-week-old baby escaped their burning home on West Kiernan Avenue.
Sara Farrell, 22, and her daughter, Summerlyn Cope, were taken to a hospital for possible smoke inhalation but otherwise were uninjured.
A firefighter suffered minor burns, and a small dog named Gypsy was believed to have perished.
Gypsy was in an upstairs bedroom of the split-entry home at 713 W. Kiernan Ave. with Farrell and her daughter when the fire broke out about 8:45 a.m., causing extensive damage.
“I was sleeping and I heard some clanking noises,” Farrell said. “And I noticed it was really smoky.”
If a smoke alarm sounded, she didn’t hear it. She guesses the sound she heard was “stuff falling or something.”
Farrell said there was no fire in her bedroom, and she didn’t know how her hair got singed.
She ran down the hallway and downstairs to the front door with Summerlyn wrapped inside her robe.
“It was so black I couldn’t see,” Farrell said.
No one else was in the house at the time. Summerlyn’s father, Travis Cope, was at work and rushed home when Farrell called to tell him the house was on fire.
The Red Cross was providing food, clothing and temporary housing.
Battalion Chief Bill Donahoe said 31 firefighters in eight trucks knocked the flames down in 10 minutes but needed four hours to extinguish numerous difficult-to-reach pockets of fire.
Donahoe said the fire caused an estimated $50,000 damage. The ground floor and roof were extensively damaged, and there was heavy smoke damage throughout the house.
The cause was under investigation.