Mom remembers daughter who died in downtown Akron fire

Beacon Journal
·2 min read
Arika Rogers poses with her children in these photos. Rogers, 20, died Tuesday in a fire in her third-floor apartment at Channelwood Village in downtown Akron. The children were not home at the time of the fire.
Arika Rogers poses with her children in these photos. Rogers, 20, died Tuesday in a fire in her third-floor apartment at Channelwood Village in downtown Akron. The children were not home at the time of the fire.

A woman is remembering her daughter, a mother of two young children who died in a fire in her downtown Akron apartment this week, according to Beacon Journal news partner News 5 Cleveland.

Kristal Horn told News 5 that the last thing her daughter, Arika Rogers, told her over the phone Tuesday afternoon was "Mom, I love you. Thank you, Mom. I love you."

Rogers, 20, died in the fire in her third-floor apartment at Channelwood Village on Fleming Drive, about a block north of West Thornton Street in downtown Akron, around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

According to her family, a friend who was staying with Rogers at the apartment jumped to safety and tried to go back in for Rogers, but he couldn't save her.

Albert Bragg Jr., executive director of Alpha Phi Alpha Homes Inc., which owns the property, told News 5 that six families were displaced. The Red Cross offered assistance.

While fire investigators have not released an official cause, Bragg told News 5 that he was told by investigators that it was a cooking fire. The family said the surviving witness also told them a grease fire got out of control while she was cooking rice.

Arika Rogers:One dead in downtown Akron apartment fire Tuesday night

Horn told News 5 that her daughter was "a beautiful soul" who was taking online classes to become a medical assistant. She is survived by her two children: 1-year-old daughter, Amieah, and her son, Mari, who turns 1 on Friday.

Horn told News 5 that she watches the children once or twice a week and is thankful that Rogers dropped them off at her house just a few hours before the fire.

"I believe that God ordained it that way that they would be here with me," Horn told News 5. "I just thank God that they're here, that I can have my grandkids here with me."

A GoFundMe was set up to help with funeral expenses and assist the two children, who lost all of their clothing, toys and furniture. It had raised $2,184 of a $15,000 goal as of Friday afternoon.

"You never know when that's the last time you're going to see your child, or anybody, so if you've got somebody in your life that you love, just always tell them you love them because you never know," Horn told News 5.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Mom remembers Arika Rogers, who died in Channelwood Village fire