Fire victim had bright future, friend says

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Two people tried unsuccessfully to save their friend from the flames.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

CORTLAND — Lisa Betts had turned her life around, and her future seemed bright.

"Things were really looking up for her," Renee Cummings said of her best friend.

But the 43-year-old Betts, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, died Monday night when flames swept through her bedroom at the house where she lived with two friends at 5473 N. Park Ave.

She died despite attempts by those friends, homeowner Judy Evans and Charles Mahan, a renter, to save her.

Mahan's brother, Ronald, was also at the house because he worked for his brother Monday, Cummings said.

Firefighters were called to the 2 1/2-story frame structure shortly after 9 p.m. Police arrived first, and they could see smoke billowing from the house.

Betts was found by firefighters in her second-floor bedroom. She was badly burned. Evans and Mahan made it out safely.

Chuck Hanni, an investigator with the state fire marshal's office, said the cause of the blaze remains undetermined.

Cummings pointed out that Betts was a smoker and had recently bought a thick comforter. "She was always cold."

Sequence of events

Cummings related what happened as told to her by Evans and Charles Mahan:

The three usually ate dinner late in the evening. Betts had gone upstairs to her bedroom to rest.

Evans went upstairs to tell Betts that dinner was on the table when she spotted the smoke. Evans then got Mahan and the two attempted to get upstairs but were turned away by the fumes.

They returned to the first floor, got some towels soaked in water and made a second attempt to save their friend. They retreated because they couldn't breathe, Cummings noted.

Betts was badly burned and lay on the ground with a sheet over her for several hours until Hanni arrived. The area was considered a crime scene, said Fire Chief John Hickey.

Cummings recalled meeting Betts about 15 years ago, but they went their separate ways. They met again about four years ago at a coin-operated laundry.

A little more than a year ago, Betts needed a place to stay, Cummings explained, so she introduced Betts to Evans. Evans took Betts into her home.

Betts has a son, Brandon, who is disabled because of a bone disease. Her sister died about 14 months ago.

Couldn't work

Betts hadn't been working, her friend said. She had been involved in two car accidents and a third with a motorcycle. She walked with a cane because of her injuries.

Cummings said Betts recently had been approved to receive Supplemental Security Income and was waiting for her first check.

Betts was off the drugs and alcohol and had started seeing a man, said Cummings, who also is a recovering alcoholic.

Cummings said she was trying to persuade Betts to go with her to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings "because she needed support."

yovich@vindy.com

Tuesday, September 19, 2006