MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A mother and her two sons died in an early-morning house fire in Mobile.
Firefighters said the fire began Monday when a spark from an overloaded power strip caught the curtains on fire and then the sofa.
LaKeysia Spencer, 32, her 13-year-old son, Demetrius Spencer, and her 11-year-old son, DeJuan Spencer, died in the blaze.
The house had two smoke detectors, but neither was working properly, Mobile Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Steve Huffman said.
Several appliances were plugged into the power strip, including an air conditioning unit, Huffman said.
Firefighters arrived at 4:54 a.m.
Spencer was the assistant Sunday school director at the Faith in God Missionary Baptist Church in Mobile.
''Demetrius was my junior deacon. He was an unbelievable kid,'' church pastor Cossie Wilson said.
Information from: Mobile Register
Copyright 2005 Associated Press