LAUDERDALE LAKES, FLA. (WSVN) - A mother and her daughter were trapped inside their Lauderdale Lakes home after a fire sparked, but two deputies were quick to respond and rescue them both.
According to officials, a mother, Sonia White, and her daughter, who’s disabled, were the only two people in their home on Oct. 17. White was resting in her bedroom when she heard a popping sound. She left to check on her daughter, who was in a wheelchair in another room.
“I ran in the bathroom — she was in the bathroom,” said White.
White said the popping noise did not come from the bathroom.
Shortly after checking on her daughter, the mother ran into the kitchen. When she entered the kitchen, a fire was ablaze with heavy smoke coming from the range hood.
“I ran into the kitchen,” said White. “When I looked, I saw the hood over the stove on fire.”
Due to the heavy smoke, officials said the mother and daughter could not escape. Broward Sheriff’s deputies Steven Kolano and So Hyon Kim responded to the fire.
Both deputies ran into the home upon hearing that the mother and daughter were trapped. “The moment you stepped in, your eyes burned,” said Hyon Kim. “Your lungs burned, your nose burned. Everything’s burning because of the smoke.”
The deputies, mother and daughter exited the home safely. “I got the daughter, I got the wheelchair out and get her out,” said Kolano. “I don’t know how we did it because of how the house is laid out. I don’t know how we got out of there.”
On Friday, the deputies, White and her daughter reunited for the first time since the fire. “I feel blessed that we’re able to stand here today,” said Hyon Kim. “It could’ve ended badly.”
As White hugged one of the deputies, she said, “I am really, really, really grateful. I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
In the meantime, White and her daughter are living in a hotel with the hopes of moving back into their home.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
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