RAMROD KEY, Fla. – A mother and two of her children were killed Sunday morning in a house fire in the Florida Keys, Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.
Robin Ferrer, 46, died in the fire, along with her youngest children, Roman, 7, and Hazel, 5.
Ferrer's two teenage children tried to save the family with help from neighbors, but the fire and smoke spread too quickly. Ferrer's daughter, Courtney Shores, 19, escaped unharmed. Her brother, Jacob Shores, 18, was badly burned. He was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
All day, family friends and neighbors were stopping by to see what happened to the home on Anguila Lane. They left flowers to pay respects to the family.
"(It's) just scary," Tammy Sattley said. "I mean, it could've been me."
Sattley and her husband, Don Sattley, came to see the damaged home. The couple had lived in the home less than two years ago.
Calls for help came about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, but the house was fully engulfed by the time help arrived.
"We just stood here and watched the fire burn and had to stay here because our houses are so close," neighbor Gay Hall said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the Sattleys said the home's smoke detectors never worked when they lived there and fear the tragedy could have prevented.
"They were built into the wall, and they were just an empty case hard-wired into the house," Tammy Sattley said. "I'm like, 'Well, you know, this is mandatory. You need to have these in a house,' and they were not there."
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
"It was a tragedy, a terrible tragedy," Hall said.
A GoFund me page has been said up to help Courtney and Jacob Shores. Click here to donate for funeral, medical and living expenses.
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