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Buffalo family stresses importance of smoke detectors after fire

Serenity Austin, 13, is recovering at Children's Hospital

As the 13-year-old girl hurt in Thursday morning's fire on Leroy Avenue recovers at Oishei Children's Hospital, her dad has a message for Western New York families - make sure your smoke detectors have working batteries.

The Austin family spoke with 2 On Your Side Friday night to give us an update on how Serenity Austin, 13, is doing. They also wanted to stress the importance of talking about fire safety with your kids.

"She's communicating. She's coherent. She's responding. She recognizes voices of each of her family members. So, she's doing really well," says Serenity’s dad, Terrance Austin.

Credit: WGRZ

Terrance Austin says Serenity is still at Oishei Children's Hospital and that she's in the ICU being treated for smoke inhalation. Firefighters rescued her from her Leroy Avenue home early Thursday morning.

“I just break down because, you know, I mean she's laying there and I don't want her to be laying there like that," he says.

"Thank God for the firefighters going in. They didn't go in with the water, they went in to save my granddaughter and I'm thankful because if it wasn't for them, she would not be here," says Serenity’s grandmother, Katrina Thomas.

Serenity is the oldest of eight grandchildren, and she's in 8th grade.

"Math is her favorite and she loves to be creative, like she draws, she wants to do hair and nails and makeup and stuff like that to be an artist or a makeup designer," says her dad.

Terrance Austin says their home had smoke detectors, but one wasn’t working.

"The one that was over the actual kitchen, the battery, they said it wasn't working," he says.

He also says they had just talked about having an escape plan because they know the family devastated by the deadly Shirley Avenue fire right before Christmas.

“I was just thinking about those poor kids and praying for the family. They lost their kids and who would have known that...," said Thomas.

"...we would be almost in the same situation," continued Terrance Austin. "Check your smoke detectors. Check your carbon monoxide detectors. Do routine drills with your kids."

"And, have working fire extinguishers, and also to have a plan in place in case of an emergency because I never would have thought this would ever happen, but it did," added Thomas.

If you need a smoke detector for your home, or you know someone who needs one, you can request one through the American Red Cross.

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