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Aug 19, 2008 7:38 pm US/Eastern
Kids Burned Out Of Home Get Shopping Spree
Fire Started In Child's Bedroom
Kids Weren't In The Bedroom, They Were Sleeping With Mother
Kids Were Scared Of Tropical Storm Fay
LAUDERDALE LAKES (CBS4) ―
A Lauderdale Lakes family, whose home was ruined by a fire early Tuesday morning as Tropical Storm Fay pounded the area with intense wind and heavy rain, received a wonderful surprise by BSO Fire Rescue personnel who helped douse the flames. It was a shopping spree for the two children who lived in the house and whose clothes and school supplies were destroyed.
The fire broke out at the home, located at 2770 NW 36th Terrace, around 1:00 a.m.
29-year old Mylissa Williams was home with her two children when the fire broke out in a child's bedroom.
Williams told firefighters that her son, 7-year-old Lewis Morgan and 8-year-old daughter Teyairah Morgan were sleeping in her bed because they were afraid of the storm. A smoke alarm alerted them to the fire.
Williams and the kids were able to get out of the burning house on their own.
Investigators say there was no power outage to the house, nor were there any candles or open flames burning. The fire is being blamed on a malfunctioning appliance.
After being displaced by the fire, the family went to stay with relatives in Pompano Beach.
After news of the fire spread, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue and the City of Lauderdale, in cooperation with Wal-Mart, took the kids on a shopping spree Tuesday afternoon to replace their belongings lost in the fire. The children lost most, if not all, of their clothing and school supplies.
The children arrived at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in style, aboard a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue truck, prior to their shopping spree.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue and Pompano Beach Fire Rescue also installed smoke alarms in the home of the relatives where the family has temporarily relocated.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
