OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — An Okeechobee High School senior is out of the hospital and recovering from serious burns she suffered in a house fire.
Her family’s home, her mother said, is now unlivable and they’re looking for a new place to live.
They are living in a short-term rental in the meantime.
On Oct. 21, Arriana Cruz was home with her 13-year-old sister, Jalissa.
“I was making lunch for me and her,” Arriana said. She had just learned how to make empanadas and was heating up oil in a pan.
She said she stepped away for a moment, “Maybe like 5, 6 minutes,” Arriana explained.
She came back to find flames.
“The pot was just on fire up to the microwave and [Jalissa] was telling me the kitchen was on fire.”
Arriana tried to grab the pan and remove it from heat, splattering and spilling oil on her hand, arm, and foot, causing third-degree burns.
She got her sister out of the house to call for help, but their Labrador, Moose, was still inside the house filled with smoke.
“We had been cleaning the floor, so we put him in the crate, and I had to run back in and get him,” Arriana said. “He was scared, really scared.”
Arriana was flown to a burn center in Orlando, and while hospitalized for a week, had a skin graft surgery and is on a strict recovery regimen.
Okeechobee County Fire Chief Ralph Franklin said grease fires are the most common fires.
“Don’t leave it unattended. Make sure you keep it attended and have a fire extinguisher nearby,” Franklin said.
He also said they are the most common to cause injury.
“Just keep it right where it is. Cover it up, turn off the heat source, put a lid on it. Don’t try to move it,” Franklin said.
As Arriana was raced to the hospital, her mother called her sister, Arriana’s Aunt Natalie Howell.
“[She said] Everything’s gone, we lost everything, and she was just crying hysterically. And I was just like what can I do?” Howell said.
She started a fundraiser that has already collected more than $10,000, but that’s just the start of what might be needed to replace nearly everything they own and find a new home.
“I’d rather not go back to the house because it’s a lot to deal with,” Arriana said.
This is all happening at a time Howell worries Arriana should be enjoying her final months in high school but will likely not return until next year.
“I feel bad for her because she’s missing a lot of fun things she can’t get back,” Howell said.
“I feel blessed that everyone was OK. We’re going to get through it with all the support we have,” Arriana said.
