MURRAY — A young girl and her grandmother were unable to escape a burning house in Murray Monday morning and died.
Lisa Wiley and Cassidy Jackson, 7, were killed in the fire at 5729 S. 700 West that was reported about 7:30 a.m.
Cassidy's mother and uncle were already out of the house when crews arrived, said Murray Assistant Fire Chief Chad Pascua. The two victims were found in an upstairs area in a room that appeared to be an attic converted into a bedroom.
A family friend said Cassidy's mother ran to her bedroom to get the girl out, but she wasn't there.
"So they went to run up the stairs and the fire was too great and that's where Cassidy had gone was up into her grandma's room to curl up with her grandma," Liz Stanfield said.
"I'm heartbroken. I think we all are. It's a very close-knit neighborhood and everybody in the neighborhood is very heartbroken."
The nonprofit group Globus Relief stated Monday that Cassidy was the stepdaughter of one their employees identified only as Adam. He was not home when the fire started.
"Though firefighters had fought hard to gain access to the upper floor of the house, by the time they got there, his 7-year-old stepdaughter and her grandmother were both dead. The family lost everything," the charity wrote on a GoFundMe page that was set up to help pay for funeral expenses.
How the fire started, where it started and why the two victims were unable to safely evacuate were questions investigators were still trying to answer on Monday.
Pascua said the house was fully engulfed by the time firefighters arrived, and getting inside was difficult.
“It looks like it had an attic and it had been converted into some bedrooms. It also had a lot of property inside the house that gave our firefighters difficulty to access,” he said. "There was a lot of clutter in the house."
Crews were still putting out hot spots more than two hours after the fire was first reported. Pascua said any fatality in a fire is tragic, but this time of year makes it especially tough.
Stanfield said she and many others are grieving.
"She's a very devoted mother and grandmother, absolutely adores her little grandkids," she said of Wiley. "We need a lot of prayers for this little family."
Contributing: Tania Dean