LANCASTER, Ohio — After a home caught fire in Lancaster, a 3-year-old girl is being remembered as community members laid items on the porch in her honor.
Neighbors, friends and even strangers paid their respects.
Tammy Nash doesn’t know the family personally but lives nearby and felt heartbroken when she heard about the loss.
“Such a sad situation, that's somebody’s child,” said Nash.
Carl Shoemaker lives directly across the street and saw it all happen from his front porch.
“The window beside the front door, blacker smoke, then they opened the front door, then everything just erupted,” said Shoemaker.
Lancaster Assistant Fire Chief Slade Schultz said when crews arrived, a man was lying in the front yard and a woman, and two other children were able to get out.
“I saw a child running across, crying, calling for grandma,” said Shoemaker.
Chief Schultz said at the time of the fire, no working smoke detectors were in the home.
“Over 60% of the deaths that occur in fires at homes occur in homes without a working smoke detector,” said Chief Schultz.