St. Louis woman dies in early morning fire - STLtoday.com

A woman died in an early morning fire Sunday in the 6800 block of Magnolia Avenue. Family members identified the victim as Janet Salsman, 41.

St. Louis Fire Department Capt. Dan Sutter said firefighters could see flames through the roof of the two-story frame house as they arrived about 3:30 a.m. They found Salsman and one of her two dogs together in the house. Sutter said another dog had been removed from the house before they arrived.

A family member said that Salsman had rescued one dog and had gone back inside for the other.

Firefighters carried Salsman out and paramedics took her to an area hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The victim's mother, Joyce Salsman of St. Louis, was outside her daughter's home on Sunday afternoon. She said Janet Salsman had injured her back in a fall and had just gotten the OK to have the surgery she needed. She sometimes used a walker or a cane. She was unemployed and on disability.

Janet Salsman was the youngest of Salsman's four daughters. Mother and daughter typically spoke several times a day by phone. The last call was about 11 p.m. Saturday. They had spent that day along with Joyce Salsman's 6-year-old grandson at Monster Jam. Her daughter called to talk about how much fun they had there.

Salsman told her daughter she was going to watch a TV show "and calm down from Monster Jam." She said, "'Well, I'm going to bed now.'"

She said her daughter never married nor had children.

"Anything the neighbors needed, she would help them out," her mother said. "She would call and say, 'Mom, do you have some extra shoes or clothes for one of my neighbors? She didn't have much for herself but was always trying to help others out."

Neighbors expressed similar sentiments.

Charlee Byington, 33, who has lived next door to Salsman for two years, said she was her best friend. She spoke to her by phone before she went to sleep on Saturday night and then was awakened by the sound of sirens.

"I saw smoke, then firefighters carrying her out of her house," she said. "One had her legs and the other her arms. They tried to get her to breathe."

"She was the most giving person,' she said. "If you didn't have anything, she would help. That's how me met."

Byington said she needed a jump when her car wouldn't start and Salsman had helped. "She was nice to everybody,' she said.

Neighbor, John Suda, 53, agreed.

"She was a good neighbor," he said.

He boarded up her windows and door after the fire.

"That was the most I could do for her mother."