An 11-year-old girl died after going upstairs during a fire raged in her home to attempt to rescue her dog.
Katelynn Simonds perished on Sunday afternoon while trying to save her pet named Little Man from their burning house in Spalding County, Georgia, said her uncle, Charles Beecher.
‘She was concerned about her dog upstairs, and she ran upstairs,’ Beecher told FOX 5 Atlanta. ‘Katelynn, she’s like us, an animal lover. She went upstairs and got that puppy.’
Katelynn and her pup did not make it out.
Her family ‘have been blindsided by the loss of their home and of their beautiful 11-year-old daughter’, states a GoFundMe page for Katelynn’s funeral and support for her loved ones.
‘Katelynn was a light in people lives.’
Firefighters arrived at the home on Sidney Drive near Griffin to find the house fully engulfed in flames. It was a total loss.
‘We go in, everyone, with that attitude. We’re going to do everything we can, within humanly possible, to try to make a difference,’ the county fire department’s Chief of Operations Mike Byrd told FOX 5 Atlanta. ‘And these stories, just very tragic for us.’
Beecher said his niece died around 5.30pm.
‘Always had that smile on her face. That’s what I’m going to miss,’ he said.
‘She was a joy of life. She was a cheerleader. She was into everything. I mean, it’s heartbreaking. It’s hard.’
Katelynn’s brother and two other people were home when the blaze started, and managed to escape.
Authorities do not suspect foul play but are investigating the cause of the fire.
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $8,000 as of Tuesday evening.
Katelynn’s passing occurred nearly four months after a mother-of-two ran back into her family’s burning apartment in Houston, Texas, to try to save their cat and died.
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