‘My hair caught on fire.’ Desperate effort to save 7-year-old boy haunts grandmother
Kimie Smothermon awoke to screams in her Hampton, New Hampshire, home in the early morning hours last week, The New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
“I ran into the living room, and the minute I ran into the living room, the whole side of the living room exploded in flames,” Smothermon said, WMUR reported.
The fire broke out shortly after midnight Feb. 27, The Portsmouth Herald reported.
Smothermon fled with most of her family, but then realized her 7-year-old grandson, Nova Demanche, who had been visiting with his sisters while on break from school, was still inside, according to the publication.
The 50-year-old grandmother dashed back inside to try to save him, the Union Leader reported.
“The smoke was down to the floor,” Smothermon said, WMUR reported. “I managed to get him around the bed towards the door. Then I got blown out of the door to the neighbor’s backyard, which is like 15-20 feet, and I landed on my back.”
She ran back inside after Nova, the Union Leader reported.
“There was so much smoke,” Smothermon said, according to the publication. “Beams were falling. Things were dripping off the house.”
“My hair caught on fire and I couldn’t reach him,” she said, WMUR reported. ”I feel guilty I’m not burnt more, because maybe that means I didn’t try hard enough to save him.”
Smothermon was hospitalized for burns, WMUR reported.
Firefighters also tried repeatedly to rescue Nova but were driven back by the flames, The Bangor Daily News reported. The boy died of thermal and smoke injuries.
“He was amazing,” Smothermon said, the Union Leader reported. “This kid was taking apart ceiling fans at four years old and putting them back together. He wanted knowledge and he wanted to see how things worked.”
The blaze also damaged a nearby home, displacing three people, and destroyed a guinea pig rescue operation that Smothermon ran with her children, The Bangor Daily News reported.
This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 9:06 AM.