Family, friends raising funds following fatal fire
Aug. 14—A fire claimed the life of an Odessa girl this weekend and family and friends are raising money to help in the aftermath of the tragedy.
A Venmo is set up at @Kristi-Diaz-2 to help the family of the girl who was confined to a wheel chair and had Down Syndrome.
The family's mobile home was on North Bridle Path and 16th Street where the family had lived for at least 30 years, neighbors said.
"Odessa Fire Rescue attempted a rescue, but the flames and the smoke were too heavy," said Lt. Austin Harden of the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department.
WOVFD Chief Richard Pease said the girl was found in her bedroom. Her mother and another child were able to escape.
"A passerby saw the fire and stopped and pulled them out of the house, but by the time they were able to do that, it was too late to get her out," Pease said.
West Odessa resident Cathy Cobb and her son, Shane Chipman, were awakened early Saturday morning by the sound of someone beating on their door and ringing their doorbell. When they stepped outside, they were confronted by a horrible scene across the street.
"We saw a lot of smoke everywhere and it looked like there was fire falling from the sky, but it was leaves that were on fire," Chipman, 31, said. "The smoke was so thick you couldn't see anything but flames and the flashing lights from the fire trucks."
Chipman grew up with the homeowner's older children.
The State Fire Marshal's Office and Ector County Sheriff's Office personnel are investigating the blaze.
