JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly 24 hours after a Northside home went up in flames, grieving family members are speaking out heartbroken over the death of a 6-month-old girl.
A good Samaritan pulled Tiffanie Koehler from her family's home on North Shore Drive around 7 p.m. Friday. Despite that heroic effort, Tiffanie died at the hospital.
Several other family members were taken to the hospital, including Tiffanie's grandmother, Michelle Koehler, who is now at the burn unit at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Not only is the family faced with grief, they now need help laying her to rest.
Tiffanie's family members talked about what they'll miss most, including her smile and her sweet personality.
"She's one of the angels that was taken too young. We will never know what she could have been. What she could have done. She's had a positive effect on the world already," said Tiffanie's great aunt, Brandi Cook-Koehler.
According to fire officials, the fire started in one of the bedrooms inside the home.
The fire was put out quickly, but family members told News4Jax Tiffanie's mother suffered smoke inhalation, her older brother is doing alright, but the grandmother was in critical condition.
"She was on a respirator and was triggering the respirator herself. It's just, with her COPD, they worry about burns on the lungs," said Cook-Koehler.
Amid their grief, the family is thankful to their neighbor, James Hansell who entered the burning home to get Tiffanie out.
"I would do it for family. I would do it for a child. But just to reach blindly in to a smoke-filled room? Just, wow!" said Cook-Koehler.
A Go Fund Me account was set up to help the family lay Tiffanie to rest.