It was likely naptime for Natasha Sanders and her four children on Saturday afternoon when a fire broke out at their Gilbert-area mobile home, officials said.
Sanders and her two younger children, Mia, 3, and Isaiah, 2, were in one bedroom. Five-year-old twins Teanna and Keanna were in the living room.
Neighbors noticed the fire and called 911, but the singlewide mobile home near Pond Branch Road and I-20 already was engulfed in flames by the time fire crews arrived.
The four children died. Sanders, 23, crawled out a window and fell to the ground with third-degree burns on more than 70 percent of her body.
The investigation into the deadly fire yielded few definitive results Sunday as to what caused it and where it started.
The preliminary investigation indicates that the fire was accidental, but not electrical or cooking related, said Lexingtron County Assistant Sheriff Tim James.
In addition, no evidence of a smoke detector in the home has been found, he said.
Autopsies Sunday showed that the children died from carbon monoxide poisoning, said Todd Caughman, deputy coroner for Lexington County. The 5-year-old twins and their younger siblings were burned beyond recognition, he said.
Sanders, who managed to escape through the broken bay window in her bedroom, lay in a semi-conscious state near the house until neighbors dragged her away from it, James said.
She, of course, was worried about her children, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he said.
Sanders was taken to Augusta to be treated for her burns. Her husband, C.J., was at work when the fire started.
Fire crews arrived at the mobile home at 1 p.m., eight minutes after neighbors called 911, James said. It was unknown Sunday how long the fire had been burning before neighbors noticed it.
On Sunday, the State Law Enforcement Division joined the investigation, which will continue today, James said.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
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