Family sets up donations for girl killed in house fire Friday

While the father of a 2-year-old girl who died in a house fire Friday morning tries to recover at a Wichita hospital, the girl’s family set up a GoFundMe account for her funeral.

The fire began sometime around 5 a.m. Friday at 1805 North Lorraine. Wichita Fire Chief Tammy Snow said the fire was contained to one room, which a neighbor identified as the girl’s bedroom.

The neighbor, Nancy Titchenor, said the girl’s father had tried getting into her room from inside the house, but the flames were too strong. He went outside and tried breaking her window.

“He got burnt pretty bad,” Titchenor said.

The father had originally been sent to the hospital in critical condition, but his condition was upgraded yesterday. He remains in serious condition Saturday afternoon, the hospital said.

The girl’s aunt identified her as Aaliyah in the account.

“We dont yet know how the fire started but believe it was faulty electric which originated from her tiny little bedroom,” she wrote, explaining that her father has burned throughout his body.

Emails and calls to Wichita fire inspectors were not returned Friday or Saturday.

The Eagle isn’t naming the father because his identity hasn’t been released by fire officials.

“My niece and her family don’t have much and are not prepared financially to support such a tragedy. Aaliyah leaves behind her 8 year old sister Brianna and her mom (my niece) Leslie,” the donation account says.

As of 4:30 p.m. Saturday, they had raised more than $1,700 of the $5,000 goal.

The GoFundMe can be found at: gofundme.com/baby-aaliyah-funeral-arrangements.

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Family sets up donations for girl killed in house fire Friday."