For those of you who don’t know, I relocated to Los Angeles from North Carolina 10 months ago. When I here of a tragedy (especially something dealing with my home state) I just have to share it with the world.
Early Saturday morning a young father and his five children were all involved in a massive house fire. Unfortunately the heroic efforts of the man were unsuccessful, and all of his children perished. Here’s more of the story from our friends over at Greensboro.com.
Greensboro.com via John Newsom
“GREENSBORO — A fire that destroyed a Greensboro apartment before dawn Saturday has killed five children who lived there.
Two of the children died shortly after the fire broke out at the apartment complex at Summit Avenue and East Cone Boulevard.
Three children died of their injuries Sunday at Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem. All had been brought there in critical condition a day earlier.
The children were young and ranged in age, according to various sources, from 18 months to 6 or 8 years old. Authorities have not yet made their identities public.
Greensboro fire investigators continued to work Sunday to identify the cause of the fire, which destroyed Apartment G at 3100 Summit Ave. Assistant Fire Chief Dwayne Church of the Greensboro Fire Department said he expects investigators on Monday to say what they think caused the fire.
The two-story townhouse had no sprinklers, he said. Church said it’s not yet clear if the apartment had working smoke detectors.
The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday. Greensboro firefighters needed about 25 minutes to put it out.
A neighbor told the News & Record on Saturday that the children’s father was home and that their mother was at work. The father was treated for undisclosed injuries and has been released from Moses Cone Hospital.
The neighbor also said that the family had moved to Greensboro about two years ago from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On Twitter, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan expressed her condolences.
“Dreams for a better life were destroyed for this family. …,” Vaughan wrote on the social media site. “Sadness & loss too large to imagine on this Mother’s Day. Prayers for this family. Embrace them in love.””
Imagine leaving Congo to make a better life for your kids, only to lose them all in a house fire. My condolences goes out to that courageous father, the children’s mother, and the family and friends of the deceased.
No word if this apartment had a fire alarm to alert the family, but inspectors are investigating this horrific tragedy thoroughly.
If you all would like to give monetary gifts in order to help these grief-stricken parents, you may go to this GoFundMe page and donate til it hurts!
Rest in peace angels.
