HOMER, La. (AP) -- A father died in an unsuccessful attempt to save two children during an house fire in rural Claiborne Parish, about five miles east of Homer.
The man's pregnant wife and her son escaped, said Claiborne Parish Fire District 6 Training Officer Rusty Gilbert. The fire broke out around 1 a.m. Thursday.
The victims were identified as Cedrick Antonio Sampson, 27; his daughter, Alliyah Sampson, 4; and stepdaughter, Precious Carlisle, 11.
Cassandra Sampson, 24, and her son, Cedrick Carlisle, 10, tried to rescue the girls through a back window but were kept back by heavy flames and smoke, firefighters said. Both suffered minor cuts. The boy had minor burns.
``The mother and the boy were very heroic in their efforts to save their family members,'' Gilbert said.
``This is just one of those real sad and tragic ones....The father stayed inside the house and moved through a hall of flames to get to the kids' room.''
The state Fire Marshalls office is conducting an investigation into the cause of the blaze, but the initial belief is that it was caused by the water heater, Gilbert said.
