US authorities on Monday said they are investigating the cause of a caregiver’s house fire in Erie, Pennsylvania that killed five children.
Erie Fire Chief Guy Santone said the child was between eight months and seven years old sleeping on the top floor when the fire broke out early yesterday.
He said the house fire arrived at the location about 25 minutes later and saw large flames coming out of all the first-floor windows and there were reports of children trapped.
“As a result, the fire started to put out the fire, while another group of firefighters entered the floor with stairs to enter the bedroom.
“We managed to get five children out, but unfortunately everyone died,” he said.
The woman who ran the service at her home, Elaine Harris, ran out of the fire and tried to drive her to the hospital but was released, on the way, she said. She was then flown to Pittsburg for treatment.
Santone told the New York Times that one of the victims was Harris’s son and four others were siblings whose parents left because of night shift work.
One child, suffered minor injuries after falling from the top floor of the two-story log house.
Santone said investigators were focusing the house fire on shortcuts, but investigations are still pending.
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