CLEVELAND — Six victims of Monday’s house fire in Cleveland reunited Thursday, saying "thank you" to the firefighters and the man who ran into the burning home to save a baby’s life.
There were hugs, there were tears, there were smiles, and they recounted those scary moments on West 102nd Street Monday morning.
Samantha James says she first noticed the smoke. It filled the home quickly, and she couldn’t find her 11-month-old baby Opal who had been playing on the ground near the kitchen. James ran to get her other twin baby Lotus from her crib, took her outside, then raced back in for Opal.
But she could not find her through the smoke.
"There was a point where I had to accept that I could not get my baby," James said.
She was in the yard screaming for help when 62-year-old John Stickovich spotted her on his way to work. He crawled in through the back of the home not once, but twice. He couldn't see anything; it was hot and breathing was difficult. He was about to give up during this second attempt when he heard a cry.
"I'm sure God had something to do with it. I believe that 100%," Stickovich declared. "If I wasn't guided while I was in that smoke, I would have never found her."
"A couple minutes later, he came out carrying my baby that I never thought I was going to see again," James said, through tears. "Those moments, I was thinking to myself, 'How am I going to have just one twin?'"
Not long after firefighters arrived, there was another call for help.
"I heard the words that I hope to never hear again. I’ve never heard them before in my 31 years on the job," Battalion Chief Chris Keener recalled. "'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!'"
The second-story porch and roof collapsed onto firefighter Pete Mauric, pinning him.
"It felt like an eternity," Mauric, on crutches, said Thursday. "I hope to never be put in a situation like that again."
Every house fire is tragic, but were it not for the people in the right place at the right time, this happy reunion at Fire Station 33 would not have been possible.
James, her babies, and Stickovich all went to the hospital for smoke inhalation. Opal also had burns on her head, face, arm, and leg, but James said within 24 hours, she was herself again, thanks to the man she now calls her guardian angel.
Unfortunately James' family lost all of their belongings in the blaze. A GoFundMe has been set up to help them get back on their feet.
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