By CHRIS BUTLER

SEBRING — Sebring resident Malena Pack stood in disbelief Friday as she held her infant daughter Jenna and surveyed what was left of her scorched mobile home.

The house burned to a smoldering crisp early Thursday morning at the Valencia Family Mobile Home Park.

She and her family believe a malfunctioning furnace caused the fire, although a state fire inspector hadn’t yet confirmed those suspicions as of Friday afternoon.

The fire spread and eventually damaged the front of her car, making it now unusable.

It was a cruel twist of fate for someone celebrating her 22nd birthday today.

Her spirits remain high, despite both a strong stench in the air and the fact that Pack had no homeowner’s insurance.

“I was scared. I had a really hard time getting out through my hallway. But I was just happy to get my kids out,” Pack said of her children Jenna and Sage. Her voice is still coarse from the smoke she inhaled Thursday morning.

She credits a smoke detector installed by her father two months ago with saving the lives of all three.

Pack said she got herself and her two children out of her home after being awakened by her smoke detector around 2 a.m.
“I’m a pretty deep sleeper. It’s hard to wake me up, but once the alarm went off I began to to notice the smoke. I grabbed my kids and
we had to duck through a lot of the flames just to get out the front door.”

“I had to grab my jacket on the way out because I didn’t have any clothes on,” she said, adding she had to borrow a pair of pants from her neighbor after first calling 911.

Neighbors said it wasn’t long before they were also awakened by the heavy flames.

Many in the neighborhood of 50-60 residents went outside to watch as DeSoto City volunteer firefighters spent 30 to 45 minutes putting out the blaze.

Pack now faces the loss of everything she’s ever owned, including her purse, credit cards and ID cards. Her daughters no longer have clothes, toys or birth certificates.

But Pack’s spirits were raised a little after finding her two daughters’ baby pictures had survived. 
She now has a message for anyone without a smoke detector.

“Make sure to have your smoke detector on at all times. My kids and I wouldn’t be here right now if ours hadn’t gone off. I know they’re annoying, but you never know what might happen,” Pack said.

Pack and her daughters returned to Sebring two and a half months ago after living for a time in Minneapolis.

Pack’s parents live in Sebring and said her daughter had lived in the mobile home for one specific reason.

“We chose this place because there’s simply no affordable housing in this county,” said her father, Jim Pack.
Pack’s mother Cindee said it’s a shame.

“This is what happens when there’s a lack of affordable housing. People have to live in places they shouldn’t be living in and they’re stuck in these dangerous kinds of situations,” Cindee Peck said.

The Sebring chapter of the American Red Cross has already provided Malena with a playpen for her two daughters. She said the Red Cross has all of her information in case anyone wishes to help.

Malena is now looking for not only another affordable place to live, but assistance cleaning up what remains of her mobile home. 
“We’ll have to hire someone to clean it all up but we don’t have the foggiest idea who to call,” Jim Pack said. 
Malena’s mother is just grateful her daughter is still alive.

“I can’t even stress enough the importance of having a smoke detector. Three people would have been dead in a matter of minutes if it weren’t for them,” Cindee Pack said.