THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603020252
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KITTY HAWK LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A young girl who was seriously injured after she returned to her burning house was trying to save her dog Baby, investigators determined this week.
Fire officials initially believed 10-year-old Jessica Parsons had re-entered her home to retrieve a doll.
The four-bedroom wooden frame at 4904 Lunar Drive was destroyed, officials said.
Kitty Hawk Fire Chief Lowell Spivey said Friday that Jessica's dog, believed to be a black Labrador, died in the fire Tuesday.
Jessica suffered first-degree burns of her face, chest and the front of her legs, and second-degree and third-degree burns of her forearms and hands, the girl's mother, Doreen Parsons, told Spivey.
Medical personnel reported Tuesday that 26 percent of her body was burned.
The girl was taken by medical helicopter to the burn unit at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Tuesday. She was flown Friday to a burn unit in Cincinnati at the expense of the Shriners civic organization, Spivey said.
Parsons and her three other children were uninjured. Parsons' estranged husband, Howard Parsons, was not there.
Investigators concluded the fire was caused by an oil lamp tipping over after one of the younger children attempted to move the lamp on top of a television set in the living room, Spivey said. The electrical power had been turned off at the residence, he added.
Spivey said the mother was awakened by the fire and ran from her room. As she fled, she noted that her 4-year-old and 5-year-old children who were sleeping in the living room had already escaped, but when she got outside she realized her 10-year-old was not around. Parsons' 15-year-old son told her that Jessica had gone back inside. The mother dashed to the back of the house and called for her. The girl finally leaped from a window.
Although the house was on pilings, apparently the girl was not hurt in the jump, Spivey said.
Jessica's parents accompanied her to Ohio. The two younger children are in the care of county Social Services, Spivey said.
Spivey said a fund to help the family will be established in the near future by community groups.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB