A mother who lost her entire home in a fiery blaze is counting her blessings and focusing in on what really matters after firefighters successfully rushed in to save and revive her 2-year-old son.
Just days after the potentially deadly fire at Richard and Melissa Stith’s home in Kennewick, Washington, Melissa told KEPR-TV that her entire family is now out of the hospital and breathing on their own.
And she likened little Dominic’s harrowing rescue to an early Christmas miracle.
The fire, which started after a candle was accidentally knocked over in the living room, was apparently quick and fierce, blocking Stith’s pathway to Dominic’s bedroom before destroying the entire home.
“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare, knowing that your child is stuck in a burning building and wondering if they’re going to make it out alive,” she said. “[It was] blocking the hallway getting to him, it spreads so fast. You just couldn’t see. You couldn’t breath. It was bad.”
Luckily, members of the Kennewick Fire Department were able to rush in and save Dominic; Stith’s other two children and her husband, Richard, are also doing just fine now.
For his part, Richard was quick to praise the first responders who helped the family to safety.
“I owe them everything. You don’t have to be a firefighter,” he told the Tri-City Herald last week. “They signed up to put their own lives on the line to help people.”
Firefighter Tony Jorgensen told the Herald about how he rushed to Dominic’s bedroom, crawled over toys and found the child, who wasn’t breathing at the time. The department said that the boy might have died had he been forced to breathe in smoke for even seconds more.
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Despite losing her material possessions, Melissa Stith had a message about what’s really important in life.
“I love my family, they mean the world to me. Especially my children,” she said. “I really don’t care, as long as I have them, I’m good.”
Richard also expressed gratitude to God for sparing his son’s life, calling it a “miracle.” He also praised the family’s local community for giving clothes, supplies and money to help them out.
“It looks like it’s going to be a good holiday,” he said, offering up a remarkably upbeat perspective in light of all his family lost in the flames.