Wanda English Burnett, Editor

“She’s our hero,” Leighann Hall of Milan said of Katie Bolling, who was caring for Hall’s children the day of the eight alarm fire in Milan, August 22.

Bolling was displaced along with three other tenants when fire completely destroyed the apartment building she lived in on Carr Street.

“She had moved and we didn’t know where she was living,” noted Hall, saying it took her a couple of weeks to locate Bolling so she could tell her how thankful she was for how she took care of her son, Duncan, 9, and daughter, Jamie, 8, on the day of the fire.

“I just want everyone to know that she’s (Bolling) our hero,” Hall told the Osgood Journal.
Both children, students at Milan Elementary School, were staying at the apartment with Bolling after school while their mother worked at Browning's Campground near Versailles.

The children smelled the smoke and Duncan went to “check it out”. Although he told the Osgood Journal he “wasn’t scared,” he did move quickly to tell others about the fire.

Bolling was quick to get the children to safety, along with their dog, Sparky, and cat, Macaroni. And, she called 911. The 19-year-old followed proper procedure resulting in everyone in her care being safe.

“I can never thank her enough,” Hall said as she hugged her in front of the charred building that is taped off for safety until it can be torn down.

“I followed a Versailles fire truck as I was coming home,” Hall said, as she recalled events from the night of the fire.

She said the fire truck made every turn she was making and soon she could see the black smoke coming from the area of her home, also on Carr Street, just a few doors down from the burning building.

“When the fire truck turned down Carr Street, my heart fell to my feet,” Hall noted. “I remembered getting out of my car and screaming, where are they?” she noted.

Hall said it seemed like the world stopped turning when she saw all the firemen, trucks, and medical personnel working around the building where her children were supposed to be. “It seemed like hours,” she said. But, a teacher from her children’s school, Tonya Marsee, knew what the children had been wearing at school that day and knew she had seen them. The frantic mother was somewhat reassured.

Hall said it was Mrs. Marsee, Brandy Biddle and another lady who helped her. Then a little boy came up to her and said he knew her children and they had gotten out of the burning building.
In the midst of everything, all the people who had gathered, this mother finally saw her children. “When I saw them (Duncan and Jamie) that’s all I saw, just them,” she emotionally shared. “They are my whole life,” she continued, again thanking the teen she had entrusted them to for her leading them to safety.

Jamie said she remembered the Milan firemen teaching fire safety at school and one time actually got to spray the hose they use to put fires out with. “Don’t mess with matches, cigarettes or candles,” were words of wisdom the firemen had taught Jamie, a second grader. “Get away from smoke and tell somebody,” advice Duncan practiced.

Duncan said he thinks about the fire every day. His sister has dreams about it.

The children were both glad the ordeal is behind them and feel they have proven they know how to react in such a situation. “Thanks to all the people who helped the people (who were) working,” Jamie said. The thank yous to everyone was echoed by the Hall family and the babysitter.

WANDA ENGLISH BURNETT PHOTO Pictured in front of what's left of the burned apartment building on Carr Street in Milan, are Katie Bolling with the children she was caring for, Jamie Hall, 8, left, holding their cat, Macaroni, and Duncan Hall, 9, holding their dog, Sparky, who were all led to safety by Bolling.