DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 6-year-old girl died in a house fire on Detroit's west side Sunday morning, while a woman and 4-year-old boy were hospitalized with injuries.
Detroit firefighters responded to calls about the fire on Rutherford Street near Plymouth Road around 6 a.m. on Sunday. The girl was found on the first floor of the home and had suffered severe burns, according to the fire department.
The woman is in critical condition at the hospital. The 4-year-old boy suffered from smoke inhalation but is expected to recover.
"It's always sad whenever we lose somebody but when it is a child, it really hits home to all of us," said Leo Spitzig, senior chief with the Detroit Fire Department.
Spitzig said the incident affects all firefighters deeply.
"Men and women of the Detroit Fire Department respond to these incidents and when we can't make a rescue or something like this happens, it hits us all very, very hard," Spitzig said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. However, Spitzig issued a warning about space heater safety as temperatures drop.
"Space heaters are always a problem, we try and educated the public about them and unfortunately things happen every year related to space heaters," Spitzig said. "This fire like I said is under investigation so I don't know if that was the case here but like everyone knows when temperatures drop, people are using space heaters."
Charlotte Baker, who lives next door to the home that caught fire, said the side of her house was singed from the flames.
"I just got home from work and to see a house burnt up that you just saw yesterday… and it's burnt up. That's horrible," Baker said.
Baker expressed sympathy for the family dealing with the tragic loss.
"That's heartbreaking," Baker said. "To lose your kid in the fire and you are going through your own, that's a lot of trauma."
"That's just horrible, right before Christmas to lose a kid, anybody to lose family, that's horrible. I pray for her," Baker said.
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