Teenager weighing 35 stone killed in house blaze because firefighters couldn't lift her

Too heavy to carry: Jamaya Herron tipped the scales at more than 500lbs

A grossly obese teenager died in a house fire because she was too heavy for firefighters to rescue.

Jamaya Herron, 18, who tipped the scales at more than 35 stone, collapsed after being overcome by smoke at her parents' home in the Chicago suburb of Rockford.

Emergency workers rescued two other children from the house but they struggled to lift Jamaya on time.

By the time they got her out of the property, the teenager was pronounced dead.



A post mortem later showed she had suffocated.



Two firefighters were treated in hospital for back injuries sustained trying to save Jamaya, officials said.



'They gave a 110 per cent, did their best and sometimes we're not able to save everyone but we were able to get two individuals out of that structure alive,' said Fire Chief Derek Bergsten.

Investigators believe a candle that had been knocked over started the fire.

Herron was living at the house, which had no running water or power, with her parents, Joseph and Delores Herron, as well as Joequavian Blankenship, 11, and Javarus Blankenship, 10.



The Herrons became legal guardians of the boys in October 2009. They were pulled to safety from a ground floor window.

Fire Chief Bergsten said the brothers, who were being treated for burns and carbon monoxide inhalation, were in serious condition at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.



Joseph and Delores Herron were treated and released from SwedishAmerican Hospital.

Trapped: Firefighters rescue two brothers from an overnight house fire in Rockford, U.S. but can't lift the teenager to safety. Her parents escaped before firefighters arrived