A southern California family is spending their first Christmas without two little girls who were lost in a fire sparked by a Christmas tree.
Barstow firefighters were called to the scene just before 7 p.m. Dec. 14 after receiving multiple reports of a house fire with children stuck inside, the department said in a social media post.
Charmon and Akeem Isom told FOX 11 Los Angeles they did all they could to try to save their family before firefighters arrived, but Aalijah Isom, 2, and Annie Isom, 7, were trapped.
“You run, and you try to do as much as you can,” Charmon Isom said. “Bust windows, run in, try and get in, try and get under the fire. I have (first-degree) burns on my feet from trying to get in there.”
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Firefighters had to jump through two separate bedroom windows to locate the girls. They were handed off to police officers who rushed them to ambulances, Barstow Fire Protection District said. The girls were rushed to a local hospital.
Family says they first lost Aalijah. Annie was airlifted to a burn center where she was put on life support, but died after a week-long battle when her parents decided to let her go. The 7-year-old’s organs were donated following her death.
A vigil was held for the girls Saturday, where their father said, “There’s no amount of money, there’s no amount of valuables that can bring back my children.”
The family is now raising money to pay for the girls’ funerals and to help the rest of the family find a new home. It is believed the smoke detectors did not work in the home they lost.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has a website dedicated to the dangers Christmas trees can pose inside homes, as well as safety tips.
“It can take seven years to grow a Christmas tree … and seven seconds for it to become an inferno,” the page states.
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