Nine people died Monday morning in a South Memphis house blaze that fire officials called the city’s deadliest fire in nearly a century.
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The children ranged in age from three to 17, family members told the Commercial Appeal.
Someone inside the house dialed 911 at 1:23 a.m. Monday, Memphis Fire Services Lt. Wayne Cooke told The Washington Post. Firefighters found a smoke detector at the scene, but due to the heavy damage it sustained, they are now unable to determine whether it worked, authorities said. It then took 15 minutes for fire crews to put out the fire and pull the family of 10 out of the home.
A total of 10 people died in house fires across the state in all of 2015, according to the fire marshal.
Residents in Memphis, Tennessee are mourning the deaths of nine people – including six children – in a house fire yesterday.
When family and friends arrived, they said fire trucks lined the street. “Nothing can truly prepare us for this heartbreaking event”.
Futrell’s family walked around the burned house and saw glass knocked out of one window.
“You could feel the heavy in their hearts, and you could see the pain in their eyes”, she said. I ask Memphians to take some time to pray for the family, to give them strength. Let’s keep the family in our thoughts and in our prayers.
The station reported that after the flames were out, firefighters on the scene became very emotional.
Veronica Trammell, left, is embraced outside a home where a fire killed multiple people, including children, in Memphis early Monday.
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“We do provide our firefighters with critical stress debriefing”, Cooke said.
Memphis Fire Director Gina Sweat initially said four adults and three children died at the scene early Monday.
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The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Sweat said it appeared to start in the living room.
