Two girls killed in blaze laid to rest

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - They were loved; 8-year-old Te'Sjohnna Sanford and her sister Te'Laysia Jackson, age 10. Each had her own personality.

Te'Laysia's favorite color was yellow; Te'Sjohnna preferred purple.

Family says they were energetic and loving, and you could always find them riding their new bikes.

But Friday, hundreds watched in agony as they were laid to rest.

"We miss you, and we wish we had more time with you, but we know you're God's angel, and He's taken you home," said their Aunt Annie Roberts. "There will be no heartache, no pain, and no misery."

On February 6, the little girls perished in a blaze sparked by a faulty extension cord.

"Well, it's going to take time (to move on). A long as we're together with each other, that's about it," Roberts said.

"(The service was) overwhelming, beautiful, I mean, just the right tone and time, that it wasn't prolonged, we'd go in there and get it over with and that's it," Roberts said.

Roberts said the outpouring of support from friends and family has been tremendous.

And one shining light through it all has been Global Learning Academy, where the girls went to school.

Principal Dr. Sheree' Cagle has organized the outreach.

In an effort to prevent tragedies like this one, the students had an idea to give everyone in the community a smoke detector.

They planned to hold a fundraiser, but received donations before they could even get started; 750 smoke detectors were given, 250 from First Alert and 500 from Gulf Power.

Cagle said the Fire Marshal will show volunteers how and where to install the detectors.

And the students will contribute too.

"On the back of every single one they're going to write 'in memory of' and put the girls' names. And they're going to make a card with their favorite memory, so every smoke detector will be accompanied by a card that's made by one of the students," Cagle said.

"It's been a hard day; but that's okay, because something good's going to come out of it," Cagle added. "Here it is, something good is coming out of it. Told you so!"

Cagle said she and supports will take a survey to find out who in the community is in need of a smoke detector.

From there, they plan to spend several Saturdays installing the devices.