June 8, 2005
Tonight fire investigators are searching for the cause of a fire that killed a three-month-old boy.
"I tried to go into the front door but the flames were too much and then I came to the back door and tried to go in the back door but the smoke was so thick I couldn't get to the baby. I just heard the baby screaming and screaming," said relative Donna Corona.
Charred remains of a trailer are all that is left after a fire ripped through a trailer home at 228 North Bayard Avenue in Waynesboro last night. A three month old child was home at the time and was unable to make it out alive.
"Firefighters extinguished the flames as quickly as possible and we did find inside, a deceased three month old baby," said Sgt. Kelly Walker from the Waynesboro Police.
The fire broke out just after 10:30 p.m. last night. After hearing the boy scream, 54-year-old Nancy Baber awoke to find her home totally engulfed in flames. Friends say she attempted to save the boy, but the fire was just too heavy. In fact, the baby screaming probably saved her life.
"She crawled around trying to find him, and she said that [the baby] was her angel because that's what woke her up," said neighbor Dreama Fitzgerald.
Investigators continue to sift through the evidence left behind in the trailer. Right now, they do not suspect foul play. In fact, they think that the fire began in the kitchen area.
Friends and family came back to the fire scene tonight to lay flowers and remember a sweet boy whose life was cut short by a terrible tragedy.
"He was a sweet little baby. He can't walk yet but he is sweet. I held him all the time," said neighbor Tiffany Carter.
"He was a good little baby. He was always smiling. He had no worries. He was just full of life," said Fitzgerald.
The medical examiners office will conduct an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. As for the woman home at the time, she remains hospitalized while recovering from first degree burns on arm and back.
