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Girl helps save her family in Racine house fire
A Racine family is counting their blessings after a fire tore through their home Wednesday, Sept. 18.
RACINE, Wis. - A Racine family is counting their blessings after a fire tore through their home Wednesday, Sept. 18.
Trinity Kornas loves playing with her eight brothers and sisters. Wednesday, that love of fun might have saved her family, when her little brother asked her to check out his toy.
"If I hadn’t have looked at his bubbles," Trinity Kornas said. "I wouldn’t realize there was a fire in my mom and dad’s bedroom."
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When she was upstairs, it wasn't the bubbles, but something else that caught her attention.
Kornas family
"I smelled the smoke and I saw the smoke and immediately I was like, ‘everybody outside,’" she said.
She was home alone with six of her siblings and immediately followed a plan to get everyone out.
"I was like, at least everybody’s safe," she said. "No one’s hurt, no one’s stuck in the house. I head-counted everybody like 5,000 times."
She called her mom, and her father called 911.
"We’re just so proud of her," said Kristina Kornas, Trinity’s mother. "She was able to stay so calmed and so collected."
They arrived and found their kids were safe, but their home was not.
"The upstairs was fully engulfed in flames. Within a few minutes, the whole upstairs was just so smokey you couldn’t even see," Kristina Kornas said. "The carpet caught on fire, the beds caught on fire, the baby’s bed caught on fire."
What wasn’t destroyed by flames was damaged by smoke and water.
"We had to walk away from everything," Kristina Kornas said. "Nothing is salvageable."
"We’re living in a hotel right now, and it’s not the best," Trinity Kornas said.
They are grateful a big sister was looking out for her siblings, like always.
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"Your clothes are replaceable. Your electronics are replaceable," Kristina Kornas said. "But your lives are not replaceable."
The Racine Fire Department said there is about $40,000 worth of damage to the home. The fire department also said a closed bedroom door helped stop the spread of flames.
The family does have homeowners insurance, but they need help with things like clothes and diapers.
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A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family recover. A Meal Train page has also been set up.
An exact cause hasn't been determined yet.