Triple fatal fire leads to new ordinance in Bullitt County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Almost a year after a pregnant woman and two young girls were killed in a house fire in Bullitt County, their family is still feeling the loss.

But the tragedy created a new law that might save lives.

On Jan. 19, 27-year old Eryn Toogood, her six-year-old daughter Haisley Heath, and six-year-old Raegan Maraman died when their house caught on fire.

No working smoke detectors were in the home, and now a new law requires all houses in Bullitt County to have functioning smoke detectors.

Time hasn’t healed the pain that the families of Eryn, Haisley, and Raegan have felt over the last 10 months, but they are finally breathing a little easier now that the ordinance has been passed.

“Sassy, love you sassy. All my heart. Good night.”

That’s the last voicemail six-year-old Haisley Heath left to her grandmother, Kym Toogood.

The six-year-old’s voice is just one sound the whole family misses hearing.

“Just the chaos. The talking to them, the screaming, the yelling, the noise, stomping around, running up and down the stairs,” said Daryn Toogood, Eryn’s sister.

“They had their own apartment in the attic. Just the noise. I think that’s the main thing, the noise,” said Kym.

Friday was Raegan’s birthday, Eryn’s was on Monday, and Haisley’s was in October.

So the families decided to celebrate all three of them, along with the unborn Holten, Friday night.

“We’re all just excited to be able to talk about Eryn, and Haisley, and Raegan and honor them. And honor their presence. They were very big presence and we miss the noise,” Daryn and Kym said.

Another reason to celebrate is this week a new ordinance was passed in their honor.

It requires all Bullitt County homes to have working smoke detectors, so that no one has to go through what they did.

“There’s a lot of homes in Bullitt County that do not have smoke detectors so this is a very big ordeal,” Kym said.

“It made a lot of people lot more aware. Checking their house and making sure they do have fire alarms and all that stuff,” said Eryn’s dad, Ernest Toogood.

They say it allows people to get a warning if there is a fire. A warning they say the three girls didn’t get.

“You just don’t want anyone to go through this pain we have been going through. So I guess we just feel good to prevent that,” Daryn said.

The ordinance requires an affidavit to be signed whenever a house is bought, sold, or rented in Bullitt County.

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