Dayton fire victim's family speaks out

DAYTON, Ind. (WLFI) - A Dayton woman was pronounced dead Tuesday night after her home went up in flames and she caught on fire.

63-year-old Dorothy Sollers was alone in her home in the 700 block of Cagles Mill Drive in Dayton Tuesday morning when for an unknown reason it went up in flames and she caught fire.

Wednesday morning Sollers' daughter Tammy McCoy, and her two grandsons Casey and Keaton McCoy, sifted through what's left of Sollers belongings.

"It doesn't seem real," Casey said. "It doesn't even look like her house anymore."

"My sons wanted something to remember their grandmother (by)," Tammy said. "Little plates that maybe didn't get burned or something. Just something they could have of hers to remember her."

"Here's one of her records," Casey said as he sifted through the rubble. "She always had papers in this basket. And here's a dice that she always had right by her chair."

The McCoy family said getting the call Tuesday morning about what had happened to Sollers was a call that would change their lives forever.

"I had just gotten home from school because I leave early and I was doing my homework," Casey explained. "My mom had called me and told me that grandma caught on fire and we need to go to the emergency room. So my dad and I went and that's when I saw her."

"I was frightened. I was terrified and horrified, actually," Keaton said. "I just couldn't believe it. On any day it had to happen here. I just can't believe it."

The McCoy family said they want the community to remember their grandma as the loving and generous woman she was and not just as the lady who caught on fire.

"She was very caring and always there for me," Casey said. "She always told me she loved me and she was proud of me."

"She was very strong willed," Keaton explained. "She was a tough woman, very caring and a family type of person."

A person the family said touched everyone she knew. The McCoy family said they want to thank everyone who risked their life to help save Sollers during Tuesday morning's fire.

"If they hadn't risked their lives to pull her out we wouldn't have had those last few minutes or even hours with her," Tammy said. "Even though she couldn't respond to us or speak to us we were able to say goodbye."

"I just want to say thank you for giving me the chance to say goodbye to my grandma and God bless you," Casey said. "It seems like this is a dream and that I should wake up right now."

News 18 originally reported there were signs the fire was intentionally set. However, that was inaccurate information provided by the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office.

However, Sheriff Tracy Brown released a statement Wednesday morning stating that there were in fact no signs that the fire was intentionally set.

Meanwhile, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.