75-year-old sleeping next to her dog dies in Detroit house fire

(WXYZ-Detroit) - “She was my world,” said Steven White of his mom. 

She died when the home they lived in caught fire Saturday morning. It happened just after 6 a.m. in the home in the 16000 block of Lenore on Detroit’s West Side.    

White says after smelling smoke, he got out of bed to find out what was going on.  He discovered the smoke was coming from his mom’s bedroom.  He and a friend broke down the door.

“The flames shot right in my face,” said White.  “There was nothing I could do. She was sleeping next to her dog.”

Seventy-five year old Barbara White died in her bed.  The fire quickly spread through the rest of the home.

Three people found themselves trapped in upstairs bedrooms.  Two jumped, injuring their legs.  Dorian Bellinger grabbed a ladder to rescue the third person.  That person suffered minor burns.

Fire Investigators say they are working to find out what caused the fire.  People who live in the home say they are convinced it was electrical.  White didn’t smoke, and they say it looked as though the flames were coming from the area where the home’s electrical box is.

Meantime those who lived in the home say the woman who died had a big heart, took in those in need, and helped people improve their lives.

“I don’t know how I am going to live without her,” said White. “I didn’t make it 40 years on this earth for no reason.  It was because of that woman.”