“The housemother tried to save us. I saw her entering a burning room to try to save everyone from the flames." (The words of an 11 year-old child on the scene).
Sarah Holland, a 58-year-old housemother who ran Hope in Christ orphanage, which was accredited as a safe haven with the provincial welfare department, gave up her life in an attempt to save as many children as possible from the horrific fire on Tuesda.
11 people - eight of them children - died in the blaze, said police.
Holland, gathered the children in a room to escape the flames then helped them through a window which did not have burglar bars. She then collapsed and died, apparently of smoke inhalation.
"Maybe it is better that she went this way because the thought of being unable to save the other children would have probably killed her," said daughter Diane Peterson.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. Hope in Christ is a church-sponsored and run orphanage.
Please keep all involved in this tragedy, and most especially everyone who has lost a loved one, in your prayers.