A 12-year-old Poplar Bluff girl died Sunday night after a four-alarm fire, which authorities report was electrical.
The victim was seventh-grader Karolina Resnik, officials reported Monday. She and her mother, Dilicia Cantarero, lived at 2940 Karmen Lane, which is located off Whispering Oaks Place.
Karolina’s visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at Cotrell Willow Ridge Funeral & Cremation Services in Poplar Bluff. Funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, at Sacred Heart Church with Father Daniel Robles officiating.
The fire call came in at 9:56 p.m. Sunday, according to fire reports. Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt was on the scene at 9:58 p.m. He relayed to responding units that flames were showing and a minor was still inside.
When the first crew arrived on scene, Capt. Chad Bell and firefighter Mykel Limanen began rescue operations. As other units arrived, they joined in searching for the victim. At that time, Battalion Chief Stacy Harmon called for dispatch to call back additional personnel.
It is believed the electrical fire originated in the ceiling of Karolina’s bedroom.
Bell and Capt. Jon Miller found the unresponsive victim in an adjoining bedroom.
They carried the victim out to awaiting Butler County EMS, who were staging in front of the house. The girl was then transported to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center.
The victim’s mother stated she had attempted to extinguish the fire and save her daughter, when the smoky conditions became too much for her she had to back out of the house.
Moffitt stated, “Everyone did everything possible to save the victim, but the conditions were just not survivable.”
Stephen Murphy and Kyle Nance with the State Fire Marshals responded and investigated the fire scene. The investigation showed the cause of the fire to be electrical, according to reports.
Other firefighters on scene were Austin Armes, Tanner Tibbs, Joshua Buhler, Kenneth Felts, Steve Burkhead, Jeremy Downing, Eric Mierisch and Mike Somers.
According to Bell’s written reports, the crews spent four hours at the scene and used 1,000 gallons of water.
Municipal Utilities also responded and disconnected the power to the house.
Moffitt was complimentary of the multiple emergency medical services ambulance crews. He said a critical incident debriefing will be held this week at Butler County EMS headquarters.
Poplar Bluff R-I School Attendance Officer Misty Dodson said, the school “will offer counseling and support to anyone at anytime” in situations like this.
A complete obituary is available at www.darnews.com. It will appear in the Wednesday and Thursday editions of the Daily American Republic at the request of the family.