Caressa Vaughn woke up coughing a little after midnight Wednesday morning to find her house filled with smoke.
She realized the problem immediately. She had fallen asleep while food had been left cooking on the stovetop.
She made her way through the smoke to the kitchen, where she saw a small fire on top of the stove and a bigger fire on the floor next to it. She tried to douse the fire from water in the sink, but the fire on the floor was too big and the smoke was overwhelming.
She then rushed to the bedroom where her 3-year-old daughter, Pexleigh Lowell, was sleeping. The girl started coughing as they left the house and ran next door.
“My kitchen is on fire. Can you help?” Vaughn asked the neighbor.
“Have you called 911?” he asked.
She hadn’t.
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” Vaughn recalled hours later, as she tried to figure out her next steps.
The kitchen was badly damaged, with smoke damage to the ceiling of other rooms in the house.
Vaughn has been renting the house. The property owner has contacted the insurance company to see if the damage can be repaired.
Meanwhile, Vaughn and her daughter are staying with family. She has been in touch with the American Red Cross for assistance.
She’s not yet sure what can be salvaged from the home. She knows the oven and microwave were destroyed, and their clothes suffered smoke damage.
The family’s dogs are safe. A cat ran away during the fire; Caressa later saw him on the roof.
Vaughn also is coping with guilt.
She thought the smoke detector was functional, but it did not go off.
“At least we’re safe,” she said.
