Bill Barkes and his 11-year-old daughter sat huddled together in a brightly-decorated room in Children's National Hospital in D.C. Tuesday, just days after losing half of their close-knit family in a house fire.
When a fire broke out at the Barkes' home in the 1100 block of S. Emerson Street overnight last week, Mary Barkes was outside and was the first to call 911. She ran back inside the burning home in an attempt to rescue her 7-year-old daughter Emily from an upstairs bedroom, but both were trapped inside and passed away in the flames.
Meanwhile, Bill Barkes managed to save his 11-year-old daughter Sarah by climbing a ladder, but fell off it during the rescue and injured himself.
"I almost didn't make it out of the house," Sarah explained. "If he didn't get me out, I would have been dead."
"The whole time I'm screaming, 'Get out, get out, get out!'" Bill Barkes said.
He got back on the ladder to try to save his wife and younger daughter, but the flames were too overwhelming -- 70 firefighters responded to the scene.
"That's the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my life. When I walked down that ladder, I felt helpless," Bill Barkes said. "I wanted to jump in, but figured if I did and I didn't get out, that she'd be alone ... I didn't want to leave them."
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Though Sarah survived the flames, she was so severely burned that doctors have to put her to sleep to change the gauze on her hands.
"I have mixed emotions I guess," Sarah said. "I'm just trying to keep [my dad] happy right now because he would cry."
Like any other young girl, Sarah is anxious to get out of the hospital to reunite with her cat, Sally.
Though the cause of the fire has not yet been released, officials said there were no working smoke detectors inside the home.
