VIDEO/PHOTOS: An Astoria woman is recovering from third-degree burns after a fire destroyed her 32-year-old home and took the lives of several of her pets. Shelby Cullen says her mother, Sally, is the only reason she escaped the flames early Friday morning. The Olney-Walluski Fire & Rescue District responded to the fire near Highway 202 shortly after 4 a.m. Crews called for a second alarm after finding the three-story home “fully engulfed in flames.”
Shelby says she heard faint cries from her mother while she was sleeping in the basement. She went upstairs to find her mom trapped in the fire. “We came down the hallway and got her in the laundry room, and that’s when I wrapped her in a blanket to put out the flames,” Shelby said. As Shelby tried to open the door for them to escape the home, she says she became dizzy and struggled to move. She told her mom they wouldn’t make it, but her younger sister, Sara, says their mother kept fighting.
“My mom got up with all her burns and said, ‘The hell we’re not,‘” Sara said. “She busted through the door, and they saved each other.” According to the Olney-Walluski Fire & Rescue District, both Shelby and Sally were transported to Columbia Memorial Hospital.
