Girl severely burned in fire finally returns home after 2 years in hospital

MERCERSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Nearly all the residents of a central Pennsylvania town gathered to welcome home an 8-year-old girl who'd spent the last two years in the hospital recovering from burns she suffered in a house fire.

The people of Mercersburg gave Reese Burdette the star treatment on Friday, holding signs, decking out the town and themselves in purple -- her favorite color -- and cheering her arrival home from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. She'd been in the Baltimore, Maryland, hospital since the 2014 fire.

A fan caused a fire at her grandparents' home. Over 35 percent of her body was burned and she suffered extreme smoke inhalation.

She arrived home Friday in a white SUV and was escorted through Mercersburg by fire engines.

She waved and smiled at crowds from a back seat window.

Reese is going home after spending 662 days with us, just a few days before her 9th birthday! Thank you Burdette family...