Photo: Kristina Stratton/Facebook
When a fire broke out inside her two-story Bakersfield, California, home on Thursday, Kristina Stratton did not hesitate to rush inside to save her children.
In astatement, the Kern County Fire Department said the children experienced smoke inhalation and other minor injuries.
“Four minors living in the home were able to evacuate the home and suffered minor to moderate injuries from smoke inhalation,” the department said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“I’m one of those people who needs to know,” Parks told theCalifornian. “I’ve been trying to piece it together.”
Stratton’s death leaves all five children without their mother and makes her three youngest children orphans. Four years ago, the father of three of her children died of cancer, according toCNN.
AGoFundMe pagefor the family has raised more than $38,000 in just four days, which will be used to cover the funeral service and to care for the children. Parks, Stratton’s sister, is now the legal guardian of the youngest kids, ages 8, 9 and 10.
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On Friday, a day after the fire, the Kern County Fire Department posted astatement to Facebookfrom their interim fire chief, David Witt.
“As your Kern County Interim Fire Chief, I never want to wake up in the middle of the night to hear about someone dying because of a fire,” his statement read. “The tragic events of last night make our community sit up and take notice.”
In the statement, Witt pressed for families to make sure they set up a fire escape plan for their home, and walk through all possible exits and escape routes in case of an emergency.
“She had a lot of people who loved her,” Frazier told CNN. “She loved her kids, her family, God. She loved life. She was just that kind of person.”
source: people.com
