OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — When Jariel Burnett saw smoke filling her house, she grabbed her sister and ran. They both survived a house fire that left their home uninhabitable on Thursday evening.
- Four fire departments responded to a house fire on Irving Avenue in Oshkosh.
- One animal died in the fire.
- Burnett and her sister were in the home when alarms went off and smoke filled her living room.
Around 4:45 Thursday evening, fire crews started breaking through windows, doors and siding at the corner of Irving Avenue and Jefferson Street in Oshkosh.
"You only see that stuff on the news or in the movies," Burnett said as she watched the fire department work.
Burnett said she was in her room when her sister noticed the smoke.
“I started hearing my alarms go off, I came and looked and there was a bunch of smoke coming through my living room vent," she said. "I told her, we got to go.”
Burnett and her sister left the house immediately, not even stopping for shoes.
“Our lives are way more important," she said.
See more of the fire damage here:
Oshkosh Fire Chief Tim Heiman said the full extent of the damage is still under investigation, but that one animal died in the fire.
There are people who live in the basement, but they also made it out safely. Heiman says they told crews another person was still inside the house.
“There was reported that there was an occupant, however, we have not located an occupant," Heiman said after the flames were extinguished. "We have power and gas shut off to the home. It will not be habitable for the near future, so we are working with the occupants to find alternative housing."
Burnett said it was a scary experience.
“I'm just glad we made it out," she said. "I don't want to be one of those people who got stuck in a house fire, like I have so much more to live for... I don't know if we’re going to be able to salvage our stuff, how we are going to be able to pay our rent because our money is upstairs, everything we have is upstairs.”
Heiman says the cause of the fire is still under investigation but that it did start in the basement.
The people who live in the basement did not want to go on camera.
