Flames tore through a home late Sunday night in Tabor City as family members slept.
“Time we looked out the window, right after that, the whole top of the house was on fire. Like the roof was on fire,” said neighbor Suzanne Buffkin.
The home was engulfed in flames completely. The tragedy could’ve been worse, if not for the quick actions of a 9-year-old girl.
The girl said she woke up feeling a lot of heat in her room, and then woke up her 5-year-old sister. After getting her out of bed, they ran screaming past the flames to alert the rest of the family.
“Like I told her when I met her at the hospital this morning, I told her, ‘You are a hero.’ I said, ‘With you, you woke up everybody in the house and they safely got out of the house,’” said Columbus County Fire Marshal Shannon Blackmon.