Child dies in house fire
Family members said they will never forget Diamond Smith’s lovable nature and the smile that always adorned her face.
“She was just lovable,” said Smith’s great uncle, Chad Sears. “I mean she was everything any three-year old should be.”
Smith was killed early Friday morning when a house fire destroyed her family’s home in the Rocky Glenn community near Tharptown.
“It’s always a terrible tragedy when something like this happens,” Franklin County Sheriff Shannon Oliver said.
“Whenever a family loses someone in a tragic accident it’s difficult for everyone. But, when someone loses a small child, it is just hard to describe.”
Authorities were called to the home at 250 Tharp Spring Road at 2:26 a.m. Friday. When firefighters arrived on the scene, flames were clearly visible from outside the home, witnesses said.
Eight people were inside the home at the time of the fire and everyone else was able to escape.
Investigators said an older sibling was holding Smith’s hand and trying to pull her away when she turned back into her bedroom, which was located in the back corner of the home.
Tiffany Harris, a family friend who was spending the night with the family tried to get into Smith’s bedroom window from outside the home but was severely cut in the process. Officials said she was being treated at an area hospital Friday.
State fire marshals are investigating the cause of the fire, but believe it started in the home’s kitchen.
Another of Smith’s great uncles, Wayne Sears, said the child always had a bright smile on her face anytime he saw her.
“She was always laughing and smiling,” he said. “I guess God has other plans for her now.”
Chad Sears echoed those sentiments.
“We just trust that God has a plan and we know that she is in a better place,” he said.
“That’s really the only way you can look at it. He had to have a plan for her life and this is part of it. Everyone will miss her.”
Investigators said this marks the tenth fire fatality reported in Franklin, Marion and Winston counties this year.
