NC Medic Responds to House Fire that Claims Daughter's Life

A paramedic's daughter died after the family's North Carolina home caught fire Tuesday.

Paramedic Eddie Thomas was part of the response by Altamahaw-Ossipee crews and other agencies who arrived at his family's house near Elon at around 9:45 a.m., WGHP-TV reports. Firefighters began tackling the flames and were able to pull Candice, Thomas' daughter, from the burning house.

At the scene, Thomas and other first responders performed CPR and other lifesaving methods on Candice. She then was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“The A-O Fire Department is saddened by this tragic event. …. Please keep the member of our department and his family in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult (time)," the department said in a statement posted online. 

Thomas has worked as a paramedic and firefighter in Alamance County for more than 30 years, the department added. A GoFundMe page has been created for Thomas and his wife, Camille, to help pay "medical expenses and funeral costs for Candice, along with repairing and/or replacing the property damaged or destroyed in the fire." The page has a goal of $30,000, and as of Wednesday afternoon, it had already raised more than $10,800.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.