JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A house fire in the Bartram Park neighborhood has devastated a local woman and her 93-year-old mother who lived there.
According to a GoFundMe account setup by a friend, Lorraine Smith and her mother, Essie, lost everything in the Feb. 8 fire.
Captain Eric Prosswimmer, spokesperson for the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department, said crews had to pull an elderly woman out of her bed and bring her to safety.
The two women are grateful for escaping the fire, and the GoFundMe page reads, “Ms. Lorraine will do everything for anybody and is a one-of-a-kind woman, helping so many over the years.”
It goes on to say, “She has helped care for her aging mother, and now needs help herself starting the long process of trying to rebuild their lives.”
Patty Blalock lives several doors down. She said she woke up to see the aftermath just before 8 o’clock that morning.
“I mean it was so fast that by the time all the fire engines and all that were here the house was on fire,” Blalock said.
Smith did not agree to an interview with News4JAX, but she wanted to thank her 4-year-old neighbor, Ezekiel, who helped save lives.
Virginia Edwards, the boy’s mother, said her son alerted her to the fire when he was about to leave for school.
“They were coming to tell me ‘bye’ and Zeke looked out the window and he’s like, ‘Mom - that house is on fire!’” she recalled.
She then drove over, alerting the Smiths and calling 911.
Smith said she and her mother are staying in a hotel while they work to find a new place to live.