THEIR STORY TONIGHT. NICKI SHOEMAKER IS STILL QUITE EMOTIONAL, AND SHE WAS ACTUALLY COUGHING HERE OUTSIDE HER HOME FROM THE SMOKE INHALATION SHE SUFFERED, SHE SAYS. SHE AWOKE TO A FIRE AND INTENSE SMOKE HERE INSIDE HER HOME. SHE SAYS SHE BEGAN SCREAMING FOR HER KIDS TO █GET OUT, AND WHEN SHE RAN OUTSIDE, SHE REALIZED HER YOUNGEST, HER 12 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, WAS STILL INSIDE. AS A MOM, YOU’RE LIKE, THERE’S NO WAY I’M NOT GOING BACK IN. FOR NICKI SHOEMAKER, THE DECISION TO RUN BACK INTO HER BURNING HOME WAS EASY. IT WAS JUST ROLLING THROUGH THE HOUSE LIKE A BLACK ROLLING SMOKE, BUT CHALLENGING. THESE ARE IMAGES OF HER HOME NOW. BUT AS SHOEMAKER WAS MAKING HER WAY TOWARD HER DAUGHTER’S BEDROOM, SHE SAYS THE SMOKE WAS SO THICK SHE HAD TO FEEL HER WAY. I’M JUST REACHING AND TRYING TO GRAB SOMETHING THAT FELT LIKE A HUMAN AND THEN SHE WOULDN’T WAKE UP. AND THEN I WAS. I WAS NERVOUS SHE WASN’T WAKING BECAUSE OF THE SMOKE, AND I WAS LIKE, I’M GOING TO HAVE TO JUST PULL HER OUT OF HERE. SHOEMAKER SAYS HER DAUGHTER DID WAKE, AND SHE GUIDED HER LOW THROUGH THEIR HOME TO SAFETY. BUT SHOEMAKER WASN’T DONE. WHEN I WENT OUTSIDE, I HEARD A CAT SCREAM. SO I RAN IN AND I’M TRYING TO GET IT TO COME TO ME. I GRABBED AHOLD OF IT AND IT JUST LIKE, FLIPPED OUT AND WENT. AND MY SON WAS SCREAMING FOR ME TO COME BACK OUT. I COULDN’T BREATHE ANYMORE, AND I HAD TO COME BACK OUT AND WE JUST SAT THERE WITH THE DOOR OPEN, TRYING TO GET THE ANIMALS TO COME TO US, BUT THEY DIDN’T. SHOEMAKER SAYS THE FIREMEN WERE ABLE TO GET TO THEM. THEY DID NOT LOOK ALIVE, BUT THOSE THEY WORKED ON THEM AND THEY BROUGHT THEM BACK TO LIFE. SHOEMAKER AND HER 12 YEAR OLD SUFFERED SMOKE INHALATION AND THEIR HOME IS SEVERELY DAMAGED. BUT SHE SAYS THEY ARE GRATEFUL. SHOEMAKER SAYS HER COMMUNITY HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL COMING TO THEIR AID AND HELPING THEM RAISE MONEY. SHE SAYS RIGHT NOW THEY ARE FOCUSING ON THEIR CAT AND THEIR DOG, WHO ARE AT THE VET AND NOT DOING WELL. SHE SAYS THE FIRE MARSHALL BELIEVES THE FIRE HERE WAS ELECTRICAL
Mom runs back into burning home for daughter, then pets
Nikki Shumaker said when she awoke to the sound of a smoke detector, she began to scream for her children. When she made her way outside, she realized one of her kids had not left the house.”They say don't go back in, right? And as a mom, you're like, there's no way I'm not going back,” Shumaker said. “She wouldn't have woken up.”Shumaker said she quickly went back into the burning home, feeling her way through the smoke, while her feet were burning from the fire coming from the floor below.”I couldn't see her,” Shumaker said. “I'm like, ‘Emma, there's a fire, we have to get out,' and she was like, ‘I can't see, I can't breathe.' I said to her ‘just grab my hand,' and that I'm trying to reach her. She finally grabbed my hand, and I just pulled her towards me and down off the bed.”Shumaker said she held her 12-year-old daughter in front of her, and crouching down, she felt their way to the door. They were safe, but Shumaker wasn't done.”When I went outside, I heard a cat scream, so I ran in, trying to get it to come to me. I grabbed a hold of it, and it just, like, flipped out and went. My son was screaming for me to come back out. I couldn't breathe anymore, and I had to come back out. We just sat there with the door open, trying to get the animals to come to us,” Shumaker said. She said the firefighters managed to find their missing pets and get them out of the home.”They worked on them, and they brought them back to life,” Shumaker said. She said one cat and one dog are not doing well. They are receiving veterinary care, but Shumaker said the care is costly, and she is not sure how much they can afford. The family is looking for organizations that might be able to help.Shumaker said she and her daughter were treated for smoke inhalation but are recovering.She said the fire marshal believes the fire was electrical. A GoFundMe page has since been set up on behalf of the family: Help the Shumaker Family and Ollie Recover
Nikki Shumaker said when she awoke to the sound of a smoke detector, she began to scream for her children. When she made her way outside, she realized one of her kids had not left the house.
“They say don't go back in, right? And as a mom, you're like, there's no way I'm not going back,” Shumaker said. “She wouldn't have woken up.”
Shumaker said she quickly went back into the burning home, feeling her way through the smoke, while her feet were burning from the fire coming from the floor below.
“I couldn't see her,” Shumaker said. “I'm like, ‘Emma, there's a fire, we have to get out,' and she was like, ‘I can't see, I can't breathe.' I said to her ‘just grab my hand,' and that I'm trying to reach her. She finally grabbed my hand, and I just pulled her towards me and down off the bed.”
Shumaker said she held her 12-year-old daughter in front of her, and crouching down, she felt their way to the door. They were safe, but Shumaker wasn't done.
“When I went outside, I heard a cat scream, so I ran in, trying to get it to come to me. I grabbed a hold of it, and it just, like, flipped out and went. My son was screaming for me to come back out. I couldn't breathe anymore, and I had to come back out. We just sat there with the door open, trying to get the animals to come to us,” Shumaker said.
She said the firefighters managed to find their missing pets and get them out of the home.
“They worked on them, and they brought them back to life,” Shumaker said.
She said one cat and one dog are not doing well. They are receiving veterinary care, but Shumaker said the care is costly, and she is not sure how much they can afford.
The family is looking for organizations that might be able to help.
Shumaker said she and her daughter were treated for smoke inhalation but are recovering.
She said the fire marshal believes the fire was electrical.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up on behalf of the family: Help the Shumaker Family and Ollie Recover
