CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Three young children died in two unrelated fires in Kanawha County on Sunday morning, emergency officials said.
Two siblings, ages 3 and 7, died in a house fire shortly after midnight on Charleston's West Side. Another child, who was about 7, and the father were taken to burn centers in Pennsylvania, said Sgt. Kim West of the Charleston Police Department.
She did not know the genders of the children and would not release names until relatives had been notified.
The cause of that fire and an apartment fire in South Charleston about 11:45 a.m. were not known Sunday.
A boy who was about 18 months old died in the South Charleston apartment fire, said Capt. Bill Peterson, shift commander for the South Charleston Fire Department. The boy was found in his crib.
A 3-year-old girl was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. The parents and a 5-year-old boy were not injured.
On the way to that fire, a South Charleston fire truck and police cruiser collided, causing the fire truck to flip onto its side. The police officer was temporarily trapped in his car, WSAZ-TV reported.
A witness told the television station that the police cruiser was going the wrong way on a one-way street and pulled out in front of the fire truck at an intersection. Both apparently had their sirens on and drivers may not have been able to hear the other vehicle's siren.
The three firefighters on the truck and the police officer were taken to hospitals but were not seriously injured, Peterson said. He was still on the scene of the fire and did not know their names.
