Three Girls Injured While Escaping Burning Home In Purcell

Three young girls are badly burned after their house caught fire as they were sleeping overnight. According to Purcell Fire Chief Gary Bonner there were no working smoke detectors inside the house.

11/20/2013 Related Story: Girl Suffers Serious Burns In Purcell Fire

Bonner says they were called to the home in the 600 block of South Canadian around 2 am. By the time they arrived everyone was out of the home.

The girl's mother, Jennifer Epperson, would later tell her close friend they were alerted to the fire by a neighbor who happened to by driving by.

"She just said she heard the guy knocking, telling them to get out of the house and when Eddie (Epperson) tried to go to the main part of the house the flames just came at them and they had to knock out the window to get everyone out," said Angelique Polk who lives next door.

The three girls were all injured, one with burns over 60 percent of her body. Angelique says their mother was also burned as she was trying to get her children out.

"She had burns on her hands and lips and her ears were the worst part and all their hair was singed," said Polk who visited Epperson at the hospital after the fire.

The Purcell Fire Department says the fire was caused by an electrical problem and was an accident. But the chief says at least the injuries might have been prevented.

"It's that time of the year, we need smoke detectors, the fire department has some we can put them up for people if they don't have them," said Bonner. "We just need to be safe."

According to the Purcell Police Department the three girls were all air transported to Oklahoma City and then Dallas.