Gulf Breeze mom whose daughter was killed in fire: 'I tried but I couldn't get to her'

Emma Kennedy | Pensacola News Journal

The 14-year-old girl who died in a house fire Sunday morning was trapped behind a locked bathroom door as flames engulfed the home, according to the girl's mother.

Skylar Farej, a recent graduate of Gulf Breeze Middle School, had a friend sleeping over at the family's house in the 3500 block of Laguna Court when a blaze broke out in the three-story house at 12:44 a.m. Sunday.

Her friend was forced to jump from the third-floor balcony to escape, and the two other people in the home — Skylar's brother, Kyle, and her mom, Meghan — made it out unharmed.

Skylar was transported to the hospital but died as a result of her injuries.

There were no indications of suspicious activity surrounding the fire, according to a spokesman for the State Fire Marshal’s Office. An investigation into the fire and its cause is ongoing.

Meghan Farej said her daughter's friend and a stranger who arrived at the scene to help both tried to get Skylar out of the bathroom, but the door was too hot to get inside.

"I just woke up to my son screaming that the house was on fire and we just had to get everybody out," the mother said Monday. "I tried to go upstairs to get her and I just couldn't. I tried but I just couldn’t get to her."

Skylar had just graduated from eighth grade at Gulf Breeze Middle School. Her mother said Skylar planned to try out for the lacrosse team at Gulf Breeze High School in the fall, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her older sister, Taylor.

"I can't put it into words to explain, but she was full of life," Skylar's mother said. "She was so energetic and loved music and art, nature, she loved to go hunting with (her dad)."

Skylar was also very athletic and was involved in multiple sports, according to her martial arts instructor Scott Farley.

Farley, the owner of Core Martial Arts Academy in Gulf Breeze, said Skylar and two of her siblings trained at his school and had become close family friends.

"She was very athletic, she played softball, soccer, and she pretty much tried everything when she was younger," he said. "She was the sweetest, happiest girl, and every time I think of her, I think about that huge smile. You always hear when somebody dies about how great they were but it's just so true with her."

Santa Rosa County School District Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick said Monday that although students are out of class for the summer, counselors are always available to meet with students who need help or someone to talk to while grieving.

"It’s just a tragedy, a terrible, terrible tragedy," he said.

Two GoFundMe accounts were set up Sunday to help the Farej family, and by Monday afternoon, more than 200 donors had given more than $22,000.

Meghan Farej said her family has been blown away by how supportive the community has been in the days since the tragedy.

"She is going to have so many people who miss her," she said. "This community has had such a great (outpouring) of support and love, and we're so grateful."

Farej also said she wants to thank the man who tried to help save her little girl, but said he left the scene before she could express her gratitude.

"I don't even know who he was," she said. "He came out of nowhere, and I've never met him before in my life. He tried to break into the other side of the door to get in. He couldn't get through to the bathroom but he kept going in and trying and trying and he just couldn't."

Farej said she hopes her daughter is ultimately remembered for being outgoing and energetic.

"She was just so smart and so mature for her age," she said."She was larger than life and just amazing."

Skylar is survived by her mother, Meghan, and her father, Wally, as well as three siblings, Vanessa, Taylor and Kyle.

Emma Kennedy can be reached at ekennedy@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.