Fire in Buena Park Kills Woman, 4 Pets

BUENA PARK — A 59-year-old woman died Monday when she ran back into the burning house she had just escaped, apparently to rescue her dogs, cat, pigs and ferret, witnesses said.

Relatives said Billie Bennett made it out of her burning home shortly after the fire began about 5:40 p.m., but then charged back inside and collapsed in her bedroom while searching for her pets.

“She loved her animals; they’re her family,” said Tamara Acosta, a next-door neighbor. “The animals were all she had.”

Bennett’s roommate and cousin, Joyce Rodden, 59, was hospitalized for smoke inhalation but was otherwise uninjured, Orange County Fire Capt. Scott Brown said.

Two potbellied pigs and two dogs died in the fire, while three dogs and a cat survived, Buena Park Police Sgt. Ken Coovert said. One dog, a black Labrador named Jack, was resuscitated at the scene with an oxygen tank, and a ferret was missing, Coovert said.

The cause of the fire on 10th Street remained under investigation Monday night, and Brown said it had not been determined if Bennett really did leave the house and return.

“If she did, that is absolutely what you do not want to do in a fire, though,” Brown said. “We also found a smoke detector in the house that was not functioning. These are two important safety messages to get out to people.”

Acosta, who is Rodden’s niece, said the fire might have been started by an errant cigarette, a fear shared by other family members because both women smoked.

“I knew this was going to happen,” she said. “They were heavy smokers. Maybe Billie fell asleep with a cigarette.”

Bennett was recovering from recent stomach surgery, said her sister, Donna Reyes, 49. Reyes and Bennett were the last two surviving siblings among a family of six adopted children.

“She was the kindest, sweetest person in the world,” Reyes said as she was consoled by church members. “It’s too much to talk about.”

Acosta’s daughter, 5-year-old Maria, was among the first to see the flames shooting through the roof of Bennett’s home. The child said she then ran to her mother before calling 911 to report “a fire at my aunt’s house.”

Neighbors raced to help. One grabbed a hose while another kicked open the front door--which caused the fire to surge outside and lash at the trees dotting the front yard, said neighbor Kevin Gower, 39. Billowing smoke drifted to nearby City Hall, where council members paused during a meeting to see what was burning.

As fire crews poured water into the home and trees, several firefighters crawled into the house to search for survivors. They discovered dead animals and Bennett’s body in the front bedroom, Brown said.

The fire was under control within 15 minutes, and the pets were transferred to the care of the La Habra Animal Control.