Frantzia and Pojanee Fleury, hero sisters die saving their disabled father during Thanksgiving House Fire in Orange, N.J.
Two sisters have died while helping their disabled father escape a Thanksgiving house fire in Orange, N.J according authorities.
Frantzia Fleury, 49, and Pojanee Fleury, 42, were overcome by flames as they guided their father out of the home on Mosswood Avenue near Tremont Avenue in the City of Orange, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Hero sisters sacrificed their lives to make sure disabled dad made it to safety
Their dad, diagnosed with dementia was able to escape unscathed, along with six others who were inside the home, authorities said. The heroic sisters sacrificed their lives to make sure their father survived.
The blaze erupted circa 5 p.m., with the siblings pronounced dead at the scene at 6:45 p.m., prosecutors said.
Relatives say PJ Fleury was an inventor and author, and Frantzia Fleury worked in medicine, CBS News reported.
Pojanee is described on her personal website as a publisher, author and inventor who penned the memoir, ‘Who’s Going to Invent That, You?’, which follows her own journey and challenges in becoming an inventor.
In a post on Facebook, the African Immigrants’ Commission of New York and Connecticut payed homage to Pojanee.
‘Pj was a great selfless community leader, and a dedicated community servant. We are extremely sad,’ the organization wrote. ‘She will be missed dearly.’
Frantzia was a radiologic Technologist at Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, NJ, according to her LinkedIn page.
Hero Orange, N.J sister was ‘daddy’s girl’
In a Facebook post almost exactly 9 years ago — the day after Thanksgiving in 2016, Frantzia shared a photo of herself with her arm around her father, captioned with the hashtag, #DaddysGirl.
The blaze left locals shattered.
‘I just came here to look, and then I see the whole fire,’ one nearby resident told WPIX. ‘That’s heartbreaking, and on Thanksgiving, that’s hard. That’s really hard.’
Another neighbor said he’d always had pleasant encounters with the family.
‘I just know that they kept their yard really nice and whenever I would go for a walk or run, they were super friendly,’ neighbor, Matthew Mehr told WABC.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation Friday. The home has been declared uninhabitable.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office tip line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.
