The cries of a young Murray girl haunted rescuers who pulled her family from their burning home Monday but were unable to reach her in time.
Flames engulfed the house, located at 675 E. 4800 South, within minutes of the rescuers' arrival. Firefighters later recovered a body, believed to be that of 8-year-old Elizabeth Khoury, from a room inside the charred house."We could hear her yelling," said Linda Sosa, 36, who was driving eastbound on 4800 South when she spotted smoke streaming from the family's roof-mounted air conditioner. "The (father) kept saying, `My daughter is inside.' "
Rosalie Jackman, who works at the State Library Division, lives nearby. Enroute to work about 7:15 a.m., Jackman also saw the smoke coming from the roof of the wood-sided house.
She honked her horn, then ran to the rear of the building to rouse those inside. A man across the street had called 911 and ran over to break open the front door, witnesses said. He, Jackman and Sosa then worked from the rear to pull the family to safety.
Phyllis Khoury, in her bathrobe, and her husband, John, both managed to escape. Their small son jumped out a window and raced around the house wearing a blanket, Sosa said. The cries of his sister could be heard by those outside the house, according to witnesses.
"When we broke the window, the mother said she couldn't see her (daughter) in her room," Jackman said. "By then, everything was in flames."
The three volunteer rescuers worked a garden hose into the house to cool a path inside, Sosa said.
"We got on our knees and got about 2 feet into the home, and the black smoke was too bad," Sosa said. Phyllis Khoury struggled to run back into the smoke-filled house, but Sosa and others pulled her back, eventually taking her to a neighbor's home.
"She kept saying, `She's in the house. She's in the house,' " Sosa recalled.
Helen Baumgartner has lived directly across the street from the couple and their children since the Khoury family moved in some eight years ago. She watched in horror Monday morning as flames shot from their windows and doors.
"I smelled the smoke and was going through my house," Baumgartner said. "When I opened my window, I saw the whole house engulfed."
Firefighters arrived and attempted to douse the spreading flames. Firefighter Jeff Thornley suffered minor burns and was transported to Cottonwood Hospital.
"Everything had been going for quite a while by the time we got there," Murray fire Capt. Keith Hall said. The progress of the fire led Hall to question if the house was equipped with smoke alarms, he said.
The fire's origin was unknown Monday, although investigators believe it may have started in the living room. The girl's body was recovered from an adjacent family room, Hall said.
The blaze likely left the single-story house a complete loss - gutted on the inside and its exterior charred. An investigator from the state fire marshal's office responded to the scene, which is standard procedure in the event of a fire fatality.
"It doesn't appear suspicious at this point at all," Hall said. "It looks like they're just trying to tie up loose ends."
Although the family has lived at the Murray house for several years, few of the neighbors knew much about them.
"They kept to themselves, mainly because of their working (schedule)," said Joyce Sawaya, who lives next door. She remembered Elizabeth as quiet, with long dark hair.
"She would sit in the window and wave to you as you went by," Sawaya said.
While fire crews worked to clean up the damage and investigators pieced together the happenings of the morning, those who had risked their lives to save the family hovered in pockets along the street.
Jackman stood on the sidewalk in the cold, jacketless. She recalled her actions with tear-filled eyes and clenched fists. Repeatedly, she asked if there wasn't more that she and the others could have done to save the girl.
But Baumgartner told her, `No,' that she had done what she could.
"You can't think about that," Baumgartner said.
Sosa is an experienced EMT and volunteer with a water rescue organization. However, most of her volunteer efforts involve adults, she said. Monday's fire left her quietly weeping in a corner off the busy street.
"It's so hard when you hear the yelling, and then it stops and there is nothing you can do," she said.