Moira Ritter
The Charlotte Observer
(TNS)
Three children under the age of 5 were found dead in a house fire in North Carolina, officials say.
Greensboro Fire Department officials said they were called to a structure fire with children inside early on Monday, Dec. 12. When firefighters arrived to the home on Grimsley Street, it was fully engulfed in flames with fire coming from every window and the front door.
Neighbors told firefighters where the children’s bedroom was, Dwayne Church, deputy chief of the fire department, said in a news conference streamed on Facebook by local news outlets. Firefighters put a ladder to the window and pulled the bodies of three children out of the home.
The children were all under the age of five, according to Church. Their mother was transported to Cone Health Moses Cone Hospital. She was alert and awake.
Firefighters said they did not find anyone else in the house, WCNC reported.
Church said 35 firefighters responded to the house and put the main fire out within five minutes.
“This is devastating,” Church said during the news conference. “This is devastating to the fire department, devastating to our community, devastating to this family.”
The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire, according to Church.
“For some of our firefighters, this is the first time they’ve seen anything like this,” he said. “It never gets easier.”
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