By Alexandra Kukulka
The Daily Southtown
FRANKFORT, Ill. — Hours before Grace Farrell, of Frankfort, had tickets to see Taylor Swift in Chicago, she nearly lost her dress to the concert in a house fire.
Farrell, 17, ordered a colorful, spotted dress to wear to the June 4 Taylor Swift concert in Chicago. She also had accessories like body glitter, but they were lost in the fire.
“Those were in a part of the room that burned,” Farrell said. “The only thing that I did get back was the dress.”
In the early hours June 4, Frankfort Fire Department officials got a call of a house fire in the 11500 block of Amhearst Court, said Lt. Brian Adcock. When firefighters arrived, they saw the fire was contained mostly to the garage, he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Adcock said, but because of the heat and smoke damage the house remains unlivable and the family had to move out.
Adcock said Farrell’s room was badly damaged because her room was closest to the garage. As he talked to her about what she may need from her room, Adcock said Farrell’s sister reminded her about her concert dress.
She said she asked firefighters if she could go get her dress, but they told her that would be unsafe. Adcock and firefighter Jacob Smith went into the house to retrieve dress, which Adcock said was the first item they saw in her closet.
As they exited, Farrell said everyone applauded.
“I was in utter shock because the condition they explained my room was in, I thought I lost everything,” Farrell said. “It was such a wholesome, exciting feeling.”
Farrell said she and her sister talked to their mother, who was on vacation, and she told them that they should still go to the concert to get their minds off the fire.
“The concert was amazing. She’s an incredible performer. She took my mind off the tragedy,” Farrell said.
Adcock said he was pleased Farrell still had the opportunity to go see Taylor Swift.
“I’m just happy she got to go to the concert and that she got to wear the dress that she chose,” Adcock said.
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