A first responder was dispatched to a deadly house fire, only to find her four-year-old daughter was one of the victims, with an EMT calling it “our worst nightmare.”
The First Aid and Safety Patrol in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, announced Monday that over the weekend, one of their EMTs, Azelyn Arenas, responded to a fire with reports of people trapped inside.
When Arenas and her crew arrived, they found multiple victims, including Arenas’ young daughter, Veyda, who did not survive.
“There are no words to capture the pain of losing a child, and no words to describe the heartbreak of being an emergency responder faced with your own child as a victim,” the First Aid and Safety Patrol said in a Facebook post. “We grieve for this precious child, for Azelyn and her family, and for all of our EMS providers who are hurting.”
Local NBC affiliate WGAL said the house fire happened during a birthday celebration, and that five people, including Veyda and her 73-year-old caretaker Josefina Estevez, died.
A one-year-old, a 17-year-old and a 23-year-old also died, and two more people were injured, including one critically, according to the outlet.
“This is horrible. This is our worst nightmare,” Gregg Smith, executive director of First Aid & Safety Patrol, said, per WGAL. “I’ve never seen such a tragedy. When you take an employee, a first responder, that has to respond to their own child, words can’t describe the nightmare scenario this truly is.”
Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello said the fire was accidental and started from an electrical outlet, WGAL reports.
Arenas set up a GoFundMe page for her “precious angel baby,” writing, “She lost her life in a tragic fire & we are all completely shattered. She is the light in every room, our baby, our only child, & we'll forever miss her.”
The fundraiser has already generated nearly $50,000.
