Five children left home alone die in house fire
Five children who left home alone were killed in a fire that ravaged their house at the Arizona-Nevada border.
The children inside were aged 2, 4, 5, 11 and 13, and none survived, police said. No adults were at the residence at the time.
Their deaths have ‘rocked the community’, Bullhead City School District spokesperson Lance Ross told The Arizona Republic.
‘It’s a growing community but, at its heart, it’s still a small community,’ said Ross. ‘So when things like this happen, people pull together.’
Police responded to the two-story duplex in Bullhead City, Arizona, around 5pm on Saturday.
Four of the kids were siblings and the fifth was a relative, Bullhead City Police Department spokesperson Emily Fromelt told The Arizona Republic. They all resided at the home.
The identities of the children were not immediately released. It was not clear if their parents or guardians faced any charges.
Nicole Renae Husko, who is believed to be the mother of the five-year-old boy, Zane Michael Jones, wrote on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail: ‘Mommy loves you so much I’m so lost for words.
‘I don’t know what to say I don’t know what to think I wish you were here with me.
‘I’m so sorry buddy, I love you so much. Such a beautiful soul (taken so) young. May you rest in peace with the other four beautiful children.’
She wrote in another post: ‘I only got 5 years with him please bring me my baby back.’
Four agencies are investigating the fatal fire – the city police and fire departments, Lake Havasu City Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of Monday morning, Fromelt said.
Bullhead City is about 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas and roughly 230 miles northeast of Phoenix.
The nonprofit group River Fund has started the Anna Circle Fire Fund, named after the street where the fire broke out, for donations to the victims’ families.
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