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Grieving mom wants daughter’s death to remind families to always have a fire escape plan at home

By Ashli Lincoln, WSB-TV
By Ashli Lincoln, WSB-TV

HOSCHTON, Ga. — It’s agonizing, the thoughts Sabrina Price says she recalls on a daily basis.

“Every night, I close my eyes and I relive this whole situation,” Price said.

From her hospital bed she spoke to Channel 2’s Ashli Lincoln, so she could send a warning to help prevent families from losing a loved one in a house fire.

“She could still be here today, if some of this stuff didn’t happen like it did,” Price said.

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In February, Price’s 10-year-old daughter Kaitlyn died after the home they were renting was set on fire.

Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies said they got a call late that night from a woman who said her daughter was trapped in her bedroom at the burning home on Skelton Road in Hoschton. The deputy’s were the first to arrive and frantically tried to get inside the home and rescue Kaitlyn’s daughter. But they could not get in the house due to the heavy smoke and flames.

Once firefighters got there and got the fire under control, they were able to get inside the home. That is when they pulled the girl out, but she did not make it. Kaitlyn’s daughter was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

“She was my baby, she was my world,” her mother said.

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Price told Channel 2 Action News she was renting the home on Skelton Road in Hoschton. She said she had complained to the landlord for weeks about two doors that were allegedly screwed shut, leaving only one way in or out of the house.

“All we had to do was replace, a door handle on that door and I could have unlocked it, and walked out with my daughter, instead of having to fight and bust windows out, and move dressers,” Price said.

She also said the home also failed to have a working smoke detector. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the cause of this fire.

Channel 2 reached out to Price’s landlord for a comment. He told Lincoln over the phone that the smoke detectors were installed three years ago and had not been checked since then. He also said he had no recollection about claims of the doors being sealed.

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Numbers from the U.S. Fire Administration show that home fire fatalities have been on the increase since 2020. For the state of Georgia, those numbers rose from 90 deaths reported statewide, to 106 in 2021.

“Please make sure that you have fire alarms,” Price said.

Fire professionals say homeowners should always have a fire exit plan, working extinguisher, and operating smoke detectors. For families with children, they advise rehearsing or going through the exit plan with their children.

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