Daughter smells smoke, helps family of 7 escape Marshville house fire

MARSHVILLE, N.C. — A family of seven are grateful they were able to escape after their house caught fire early Thursday in Union County.

Dozens of firefighters and other emergency personnel responded before 8 a.m. to the house fire on Marshville Water Plant Road, just off Highway 74.

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Channel 9 crews could see deputies blocking off the road while officials investigated.

Reporter Mark Barber learned that a family of seven who were renting the house were able to escape the flames. One of the daughters said she woke up after smelling smoke and was able to drag her 80-year-old grandmother to safety.

“I smelled smoke and then I looked in the kitchen and the whole kitchen was red,” said daughter Nina Sewell.

Members of the family range in age from 25 to 84. They told Barber they have rented the house for five generations and the home has never had smoke detectors.

“I’m still in shock because this is all we know right here. We grew up here. We had kids. There are four to five generations right here,” said Sewell.

Sewell told Barber that family members never pushed the property owner to add smoke detectors because they just didn't think something like this would happen.

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After speaking with the family, Barber tracked down the home's owner, Jimmy Sthell.

When asked why there were no smoke detectors in the home, Sthell said he had "no earthly idea," but later he said he felt guilty and that "it was a home problem."

The homeowner told Barber that he will try to help the family get back on its feet.

Although the family is unsure of what to do next, Sewell said she knows that if she hadn't woken up this morning, her family wouldn't be alive.

“Everybody would’ve been dead. I woke up just in the nick of time,” said Sewell.

Relatives said one family member was taken to the hospital after suffering burns and two dogs were killed in the fire.

The fire marshal said the family will not be fined or face any charges, but wants this situation to be a warning for residents to make sure their homes are safe.

It is still unclear what started the blaze.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

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