A house fire in Georgia claimed the life of an 11-year-old girl who was trying to save her dog, family told FOX 5 Atlanta.
The fire tore through a home outside the Griffin city limits on Sidney Drive in Spalding County Saturday night. The home was a complete loss, firefighters told FOX 5.
The victim’s uncle identified the girl as Katelynn Simonds.
“Always had that smile on her face,” Charles Beecher, Simonds’ uncle, told the TV station. “That’s what I’m going to miss.”
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Beecher said the child died around 5:30 pm while trying to be a hero.
“She was worried about her dog upstairs, and she ran upstairs,” he explained. “Katelynn, she’s like us, an animal lover. She went upstairs and got that puppy. His name was ‘Little man.'”
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Neither Katelynn nor the dog made it out. Beecher, described as having a pain in his voice while speaking about the loss, said the family is now left with memories.
“I helped take care of them, and always looked after them while [her mother] worked,” Beecher said.
Spalding County Fire Department’s chief of operations told FOX 5 crews tried to save the girl but by the time they arrived, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Responding firefighters were offered counseling services to help them process the tragedy.
“We go in, everyone, with that attitude. We’re going to do everything we can, within humanly possible, to try to make a difference,” Spalding County Fire Department Chief of Operations Mike Byrd told FOX 5. “And these stories [are] just very tragic for us.”
Katelynn’s brother and two other people were in the home at the time the fire broke out and survived, FOX 5 states.
Katelynn was a student at Cowan Road Middle School, according to WSB-TV. Family members told the local TV station she was a cheerleader at the Spalding and Pike county recreation departments, and lived with her…
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