KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two sisters who were in critical condition after they were discovered in a house fire shortly after midnight on Friday morning, are still recovering but expected to be okay as of Saturday night.
Just before midnight on Thursday, Kansas City, Mo. Fire Department officials said they received a call from a 15-year-old girl who said she was having trouble breathing and experiencing shortness of breath, and then hung up.
Dispatchers entered the call as a medical emergency, however when responders arrived at the scene, a residence located at 4018 E. 69th Street in Kansas City, Mo., they noticed heavy smoke was billowing out of the rear of the house. The call was then immediately upgraded to a house fire.
When fire crews got inside the house, they heard a faint scream coming from the back of the home. There they found the 15-year-old lying over her 5-year-old sister, in a manner which suggested that the teen was attempting to protect the little girl. However once they were located, both girls were unresponsive and neither was breathing.
Paramedics took both girls to Children’s Mercy hospital where they remain in critical condition, as of Friday. The 32-year-old mother of the two girls was not home when the fire occurred. Some neighbors were upset that the mother had left the girls by themselves.
“It hurts to be left home alone. I tell my family don’t ever leave your kids by themselves, you never know what happens,” said Belinda Phillips, a neighbor.
