Perdue and her mother lived in a Roosevelt Boulevard apartment, about four miles from the scene at 1101 Park Lane.
Fire investigators have not determined how the fatal fire started. Middletown Fire Marshal Bob Hess said he has not ruled out careless smoking.
The fire started in a sleeper-sofa on the first floor of Apt. G, a three-story building where Perdue apparently was visiting friends and relatives.
In a next-door unit, her 17-year-old daughter, Ashia Lee Hibbard, apparently heard Perdue pounding on the wall for help, Hess said. She opened the apartment door and attempted to rescue her mother, but oxygen fed the fire and forced the teen to seek safety.
The unit was fully engulfed in smoke when crews arrived, though fire was contained to the living room and kitchen, Hess said.
Firefighters began battling the blaze and sent rescuers in after Perdue. They found her in an upstairs bedroom and drove her to Atrium Medical Center, where authorities said she died.
Kristy Watts was getting ready for bed when her boyfriend heard a woman screaming outside. The 26-year-old remembered thinking her boyfriend should stay inside their apartment two doors down from the noise and mind his business.
When Watts’ boyfriend saw smoke shooting from Apt. G, he yelled for Watts to get her mother and their infant daughter out of the apartment.
Watts called 911.
“Thank God he didn’t just mind his own business,” she said.
Damage to the apartment was estimated between $50,000 and $70,000, with an additional $25,000 to $40,000 in damage to the contents of the apartment.
Hess said he has yet to determine whether a smoke detector in the unit was working.
Two Park Lane families experienced smoke damage to their apartments, Hess said.
The American Red Cross has found shelter for the families and has received calls for help from other residents, said Mike Samet, marketing and communications director.
“We’ve put them up in hotels and we have them in contact with our caseworkers from our main office and counselors as well because of the fatality,” said Nicholas Hollan, community outreach and disaster service coordinator.
Staff
W
riters
Meagan Engle
and Lauren Pack
contributed to this report.
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