A house fire Saturday morning claimed the life of a Cascilla woman who reentered her burning structure in an attempt to rescue a pair of Boston Terriers she called her "fur babies."
Tallahatchie County Coroner Ginger Meriwether identified the victim as Sherry Jean Franklin Hill, 69, of 1024 Strawberry Circle, just off Powers Creek Road.
Meriwether ruled Mrs. Hill's death accidental, caused by smoke inhalation.
"She gave her last breath to go back in to try to save her little dogs," said Meriwether. "What a legacy — to care for even the smallest creatures God created. My thoughts and many prayers go out to this precious family."
Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples said the fire at the single-wide mobile home was reported at 10:56 a.m.
He noted that an area firefighter who lives on an adjacent hilltop saw smoke rising from the location and heard "a boom."
Maples said the house was fully involved when the first firefighters arrived.
Mrs. Hill and her husband of 52 years, Larry, 70, had initially escaped the flaming structure unharmed, noted Maples.
"She had gotten out, and it was her choice — with folks telling her not to — to go back in and try to rescue the dogs," he explained. "My condolences to the family in this great loss. She will be missed in the community."
Mrs. Hill's daughter, Kim Hill Frazier, said her parents had three large dogs with houses on the porch. Two of the three, Boxer Bulldogs, were blind, she noted. The two Boston Terriers inside were named Rusty and Winnie. None of the five dogs survived Saturday's fire, Frazier added.
That Mrs. Hill would try to rescue them came as no particular surprise to Frazier.
"Since her kids and grandkids were grown ... they were her babies," she explained. "If you stood outside their house, you could hear her talking to them just like a mother to a child."
Frazier added, "I imagine when she was overwhelmed by the smoke and passed out, that they were right by her side."
Maples said firefighting units from Rosebloom, Cascilla, Murphreesboro, Paynes and Paducah Wells responded to the fire.
He noted that one Paynes firefighter sustained a "minor injury." The fireman was treated at Tallahatchie General Hospital in Charleston and released, he said.
The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time, stated Maples, who added that the State Fire Marshal's Office will be called in for a mandatory investigation.
Mrs. Hill was a school bus driver for the Grenada School District, a position she held for nearly two decades. She also was a former community correspondent for several area newspapers, including The Sun-Sentinel, for which she wrote a column titled "Cascilla News," and The Grenada Star.
Friends who followed her on Facebook knew of her deep devotion to her Christian walk. As one of the Independent Pentecostal Churches faith, Mrs. Hill was a member of New Bethel Holiness Church in Cascilla.
In a mid-2021 Facebook post, self-labeled with the emoji, "feeling blessed," Mrs. Hill wrote, "Life is just a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow, but when we shall be with Him it will be forever. No more sadness, sickness or pain. Oh how I long to see Him and be in that city."
