Victim in Northland house fire identified

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The woman who died in a Northland house fire Tuesday night has been identified as Theresa Meloy.

The fire started in a home in the 3900 block of NE 51st Terrace. A passerby saw the flames around 8:30 p.m. and tried to save Meloy, who was trapped in a back bedroom, but she was pronounced dead at North Kansas City Hospital.

Her uncle, Bob Meloy, remembered her as a kind person.

"Theresa was just a caring person and someone who is always wanting to help people," he said.

He tells 41 Action News the family is concerned over police reports that all the smoke detectors weren't working in the home.

"She was the kind of person that would keep them working," says Meloy. He remembers how Theresa would test the smoke detector in the kitchen often when she was cooking.

Investigators reported only the detector in the garage was working.

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Theresa Meloy was home alone at the time of the fire. Her three dogs also died inside the burning house. Fire officials are still investigating what caused the fire.