THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603280496
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KILL DEVIL HILLS LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Ten-year-old Jessica Parsons, burned over 25 percent of her body trying to save her dog from their flaming Kitty Hawk home, is expected home next week.
Jessica was flown to a burn unit in Cincinnati, Ohio, after a Feb. 27 fire destroyed the four-bedroom wood frame house on 4904 Lunar Drive.
The girl had fled unscathed after flames began consuming the house, but ran back inside trying to save her black labrador, ``Baby.'' She was forced to jump from her bedroom window to escape the blaze. The dog died in the fire.
Doreen Parsons, Jessica's mother, and her three other children, Lucas, 4, Katie, 6, and James, 15, were unharmed. Howard Parsons, the mother's estranged husband, was not in the home the night of the fire.
Fire officials ruled the blaze was accidentally caused by a lit oil lamp tipping over. The electric power was turned off at the residence, officials said.
Parsons' employer, Lee Petrozza of Petrozza's Deli and Cafe, who has been collecting donations for the family, said the two younger children are staying with a foster family on the Outer Banks and the teenage boy has been with his godfather in Virginia Beach.
A house has been found for them in Kill Devil Hills, Petrozza said, and the mother and children will be reunited when Jessica leaves the hospital. Parsons' mother will temporarily move from her Virginia home to assist the family, Petrozza said.
Jessica has had several skin grafts and has been heavily medicated until recently, Petrozza said. But ``surprisingly, she's doing really well,'' she added.
It is still uncertain when the fourth-grader will return to her class at Kitty Hawk Elementary.
Petrozza said people have been generous with donations of clothing and household items, but the family still desperately needs beds, bedding, dressers and toys.
Southern Bank and Trust Company has collected about $500 for the family, which a bank employee said will be put into a trust fund in Virginia. Jessica's school has collected some money and household items to donate to the family.
Since the family reportedly has no health insurance, the Shriners civic organization will pick up the tab for the Ohio hospital, Kitty Hawk Fire Chief Lowell Spivey said.
Anyone wishing to contribute donations for the Parsons family can call Lee Petrozza at 441-8787. by CNB