West Odessa resident Cathy Cobb and her son, Shane Chipman, were awakened early Saturday morning by the sound of someone beating on their door and ringing their doorbell. When they stepped outside, they were confronted by a horrible scene across the street.
“We saw a lot of smoke everywhere and it looked like there was fire falling from the sky, but it was leaves that were on fire,” Chipman, 31, said. “The smoke was so thick you couldn’t see anything but flames and the flashing lights from the fire trucks.”
A mobile home was on fire, a mobile home belonging to a family that has lived on North Bridle Path and 16th Street as long as they have, at least 30 years, Cobb said. Chipman grew up with the homeowner’s older children.
“I went out and hugged her,” Cobb said. “She was on the ground and said she’d tried to get her baby out, but she couldn’t.”
Authorities confirmed an 11-year-old girl died in the blaze. Cobb said the child, who had Down Syndrome, had been confined to a wheelchair.
“Odessa Fire Rescue attempted a rescue, but the flames and the smoke were too heavy,” said Lt. Austin Harden of the West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department.
WOVFD Chief Richard Pease said the girl was found in her bedroom. Her mother and another child were able to escape.
“A passerby saw the fire and stopped and pulled them out of the house, but by the time they were able to do that, it was too late to get her out,” Pease said.
Two of the victim’s brothers said they wanted to wait to speak with the media until other family members had been told about the girl’s death.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office and Ector County Sheriff’s Office personnel are investigating the blaze and were still on scene around 11 a.m.
“We ask for prayers for this devastated family,” Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis said in a statement.
Pease said a chaplain has been made available to the family, firefighters, deputies and anyone else impacted by the tragedy. The chaplain can be reached through the WOVFD Facebook page, he said.
