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Two sisters were killed in a house fire on Thanksgiving while trying to save their father.
According to reporting from CBS News New York, a fire broke out in an Orange, New Jersey home around 5 p.m. local time on the holiday. The cause of the fire that disrupted the family gathering, which included 49-year-old Frantzia Fleury and 42-year-old Pojanee “PJ” Fleury, is unknown at this time.
After the fire broke out at the home on Mosswood Avenue, Frantzia and Pojanee went back into the burning house to save their father, who is disabled and has dementia, and successfully got him out, but the sisters themselves did not survive. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed they were pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. Seven other family members, including their father, were able to escape the fire with their lives.
Several reports show that Frantzia was a Marine Corps veteran turned x-ray technologist. Pojanee was the founder of a wellness publication for African Americans called Brown Eyez Magazine. They both left behind a child, according to ABC 7 New York.
“These two women had big hearts. They were very deeply devoted to their families. And it’s just a tragedy. I don’t know how, I don’t know how my aunt is gonna deal with this. My uncle, I don’t even know if he’s aware of what’s going on. He’s in the hospital right now. He suffered from smoke inhalation,” a cousin of the Fleury sisters told ABC 7.
A GoFundMe was set up by Sidney Augustin and Christine von Steiger to aid the family with funeral costs. In the description, they confirmed that the father of Frantzia and Pojanee is also “fighting to recover” in the hospital.
