CLEARFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Yellow tape still surrounds a Butler County home two weeks after a toddler died in a devastating fire. His parents, Melina Bryner, 24, and Alex Umbaugh, 24, risked their lives trying to save him.
“He really was just everything to us,” Bryner said.
The heartache and agony of losing a child is something Bryner and her fiancé Umbaugh say no parent should ever have to go through.
“Our lives just won’t ever be the same again,” said Bryner. “It’s hard every day.”
The proud parents showed Channel 11′s Antoinette DelBel the last picture they took of their 2-year-old son Jesse.
“He really loved Ramen,” Bryner said. “Alex said to him the one day, ‘I love you,’ and he looked at him and said, ‘I love Ramen.’”
Just hours later, their lives were completely shattered. In the morning of March 8, flames quickly spread through the family’s mobile home in Clearfield Township.
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Jesse was trapped in the living room where his parents say investigators believe an electrical fire started.
“It had smoldered in the walls for about 10 hours, is what we were told,” Bryner said. “Everything was gone within minutes.”
Bryner and Umbaugh suffered third-degree burns as they ran back into the house straight into flames trying to save their son.
“I went in multiple times,” Bryner said. “I went around the trailer, smashed open the bay window.”
Sadly, they weren’t able to get to Jesse.
“It was hot,” Bryner said. “It was pitch-black inside. We had a lot of windows and usually it was very bright. It wasn’t. It was pitch black. There was black smoke filling the entire trailer at that point. We couldn’t breathe.”
The parents said first responders had to stop them from going back into their burning home a fourth time. They told Channel 11 fthat irefighters found their son with their dog Precious by his side.
“He was sweet,” Bryner said. “He loved everyone. He loved animals. We had dogs and cats, and he adored his guinea pigs. He really loved those guinea pigs.”
Memories of Jesse and the outpouring of support are what his parents said have been helping them get through this very difficult time.
RELATED COVERAGE >>> ‘He was very loving’: Grandmother remembers 2-year-old killed in mobile home fire
“We just weren’t expecting all the support we did get. It’s overwhelming just how much love and support has been coming from everyone,” Bryner said. “We’re very appreciative of everything everyone has done for us.”
Bryner told Channel 11 she doesn’t want her son to be forgotten.
Fireproof, a local nonprofit, has started a GoFundMe page for the family. Click here if you’d like to help.
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