DRAPER — Fire officials say the Draper grandmother who was killed in a house fire this week died just feet from the front door — after making sure the rest of her family was safely out of the house.
Her family is remembering her as a hero while her 6-year-old grandson continues to recover from burns he suffered in the fire.
Shelly O'Meara, 61, died from smoke inhalation in the blaze early Tuesday.
"She is a hero," said Cherokee Martinez, aunt of the boy and his 9-year-old brother. "She saved my sister, she saved my brother-in-law, she saved my nephew."
While O'Meara was the only family member killed in the fire, the 6-year-old suffered critical burns and was taken by medical helicopter to University of Utah Hospital. He is currently recovering from his injuries in the burn unit.
The child has second-degree burns on his face and his ear, his shoulder and chest, his left arm, his waist, the top of his right foot and the thumb of his right hand, Martinez said.
The boy's father also was treated for burns on his hands, and a police officer and firefighter were treated and released for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, according to Draper Fire Chief Clint Smith.
The fire Tuesday was reported by a neighbor about 12:45 a.m. at 498 E. 13800 South. The two children and their mother and father were outside the log cabin home when crews arrived, Smith said, but O'Meara was unaccounted for.
Neighbors and relatives said O'Meara, who had an open loft bedroom, woke the rest of the family up, yelling that the house was on fire.
"She was screaming at them, telling everyone, my sister and brother-in-law, there was a fire in the house," Martinez said.
Martinez said her brother-in-law picked up the 6-year-old and tried to open the front door, but the fire came in through the door at them. The fire started on the front porch, the fire department said.
"The house was on fire and so his first instinct was get my kids out," Martinez said.
The father then went out a back door and helped his wife and sons crawl out a bedroom window. It wasn't until the family was out of the house that they realized O'Meara was still inside.
O'Meara's son tried to save her, running back into the house to look for her three different times, Martinez said.
"He was dousing himself with the hose and running back in to find her," Martinez said.
O'Meara was later found deceased just inside the front door.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.