A fire early Sunday morning at 127 Pine Lodge Road in West Portsmouth took the life of a 13-year-old girl.

A call went out at 3:11 a.m. to the Washington Township Fire Department, which arrived at the scene within four minutes.

When they arrived, the trailer was engulfed in flames and eight occupants were out of the trailer except the one victim, said fireman Wayne Stewart.

“Everyone was out except the one,” said Stewart. “The whole trailer was in flames and it was just too late. Despite all our rescue efforts, we couldn't get to her.”

The other occupants included five children and three adults. Mark Flannery, 24, was taken by Squad Nine to Southern Ohio Medical Center for burns, where he was treated and released.

When Scioto County Coroner Terry Johnson arrived, he had the body transported to the Hamilton County coroner's office for an autopsy.

“We went to the back of the trailer where there was a door that had jammed during the fire,” Johnson said. “Firemen had a difficult time getting it open.”

They found her after they pried the door open. The girl was declared dead at 3:45 a.m.

Although he cannot identify the 13-year-old until after the autopsy and a forensics investigation, a television report said that the girl was Desiree Nicole Flannery.

The fire department was on the scene about three hours with seven trucks and 21 personnel.

The American Red Cross was called in about 3:45 a.m. to help the family. They lost everything in the fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated by the state fire marshal's office.

The fire department had passed gifts out to the children of the home at Christmas, so most of the firemen had already met the children.

“It bothers you,” Stewart said. “It really bothers you.”

The trailer sat on a hill and Stewart noticed when they took the gifts up at Christmas that the driveway was in bad condition.

Johnson, who was on the scene for about 2 1/2 hours, said that the Washington Fire Department was one of the best fire crews he had seen work.

Even though they continued to work diligently, “you could tell it really hit them hard,” he said.

“It was a muddy, cold, damp night and a very difficult situation,” Johnson said.

PHYLLIS NOAH can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 234 or e-mail at pnoahpdt@yahoo.com.