JOPPA — Courtney Butash said the smoke alarm in her Harford County home woke her up early on Christmas morning.
“My room was filled with smoke,” she said. “My first instinct was jumping up and saving my son.”
Courtney said it’s hard to forget her father’s plea for help as she rescued her 12-year-old son from the flames.
“I never would have expected this is what Christmas is going to be like,” Courtney told WJZ.
Her father, 68-year-old Roger Butash, was found dead in the basement of their home in Joppa early Christmas morning, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal (MSFM).
Courtney said her father was downstairs where the fire was coming from.
“I hear my dad yelling, ‘Courtney, help. Call 911,'” she said. “I can still hear, in my head, my dad screaming.”
Courtney said her father, son and several pets lived in the home on Doncaster Road.
“I was preparing to wake up at 7 a.m. to start a roast for Christmas. It was supposed to be a really lowkey Christmas,” Courtney said