‘Tragic Night’ Leaves ‘Tremendous Void’ In Aurora Family

AURORA, IL — A 39-year-old Aurora woman died after an early morning fire Jan. 25, leaving a “tremendous void” in the lives of her husband and their three children.

Katie Lynn Smith was a loving mother who “adored” her kids — Abraham, 9; Lillian, 6; and Elizabeth, 3 — her husband Rick Smith told Patch.

She loved camping with her family, taking her kids to the park and “doing crafts with the little ones,” Rick Smith said. She also cared for his older daughters when they were in their teens, he said.

“Katie was everything to me and our children,” Rick Smith said. “She has left a tremendous void in our lives. My kids lost their mother, their home and all their possessions (in) one tragic night.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family recover and rebuild their home. It has raised about $2,600 toward its $50,000 goal, as of Tuesday morning.

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Katie Lynn Smith died Jan. 25 at AMITA Health Mercy Medical Center after being rescued from a second-floor bedroom by Aurora firefighters and paramedics.

Crews responded around 3:45 a.m. that morning to the home in the 500 block of Spruce Street after a caller reported three children standing outside said the house was on fire and their mother was still inside.

Rick Smith, who was at work at the time of the fire, said the three children were sleeping in the first-floor living room when Abraham was awoken by the smell of smoke.

Abraham “saw fire coming out of a wall,” then ran to get a glass of water to throw on the flames, Rick Smith said.

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When he realized he could not put out the fire, Abraham woke up his sisters, “wrapped them in blankets, and they went outside to flag down a car for help,” Rick Smith said.

“He saved his sisters' lives,” Smith said. “I am very proud of him.”

Aurora Fire Department officials said there were no working smoke detectors in the home, which sustained about $85,000 worth of damage and was left uninhabitable.

Rick Smith said he plans to repair the house so he and his children can move back in.

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