By Associated Press - Monday, December 10, 2018

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - The Latest on an Ohio house fire that killed five children (all times local):

6 p.m.

An Ohio man says the house fire that killed his five young cousins occurred while his aunt was spending rare time with all of her children under one roof.

Firefighters say the woman jumped from a second-floor window and was the only survivor of the blaze in Youngstown. They haven’t publicly identified the hospitalized woman.

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Daniel Negron said his aunt has been studying nursing and her children sometimes stayed with relatives or their godparents, but they were all together Sunday night.

Negron set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral costs.

City Councilwoman Anita Davis says the community also plans a fundraiser dinner next week to benefit the family.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Officials say there’s no sign the blaze was suspicious.

___

5:05 p.m.

A woman injured in an Ohio house fire that killed her five young children is being treated at a Cleveland hospital.

A spokeswoman for MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland says the woman was in critical condition as of Monday evening.

Firefighters say the mother jumped from a second-floor window and was the only survivor of the Sunday night blaze in Youngstown. They haven’t publicly identified her.

Neighbor Aaron Baldwin says the anguished mother was naked and bleeding when she appeared at his door screaming for help to try to save her children. Baldwin says by then the house across the street was engulfed in flames, with no way for neighbors to rush inside.

The cause is under investigation. Fire officials say there’s no sign that the blaze was suspicious.

___

4:30 p.m.

A woman who says she was a babysitter for five young children killed in an Ohio house fire is tearfully remembering their personalities.

Virgen Bonilla stopped outside the charred Youngstown home on Monday to leave flowers at a makeshift memorial and shared some memories of the children.

She says 9-year-old Aleysha Rosario loved to dance, and 3-year-old Charles Gunn liked to sing in Spanish. Bonilla says 2-year-old Ly’Asia Gunn was quieter.

The blaze late Sunday night also killed 1-year-old twins Brianna and Arianna Negron.

Bonilla says she is good friends with their mother, who is studying nursing.

Fire officials say the mother jumped from a second-floor window and was the only survivor of the fire.

The cause is under investigation. Officials say there’s no sign the blaze was suspicious.

___

3:40 p.m.

An Ohio coroner’s office has identified the five young children killed in a late-night house fire that injured their mother.

Fire officials in Youngstown say the hospitalized woman jumped from a second-floor window and is the only survivor of the Sunday blaze.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office on Monday identified the children as 9-year-old Aleysha Rosario, 3-year-old Charles Gunn, 2-year-old Ly’Asia Gunn, and 1-year-old twins Brianna and Arianna Negron.

Youngstown schools spokeswoman Denise Dick says Aleysha was an articulate fourth-grader. Counselors are being made available at the elementary school she attended.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Fire officials say the damage was mostly on the home’s first floor, leading them to believe the fire started there.

They say there’s no sign that the fire was suspicious.

___

2:25 p.m.

A neighbor says an anguished mother was naked and bleeding when she appeared at his door screaming for help to save her five children from a late-night fire swallowing their Ohio home.

Fire officials in Youngstown say the woman jumped from a second-floor window and was the only survivor of the Sunday blaze that killed the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 9.

Neighbor Aaron Baldwin says he awoke when the distraught woman banged on his door, yelling about her kids. Baldwin says by then the house across the street was engulfed in flames, with no way for neighbors to rush inside.

Baldwin, a father of five, describes the scene as “the worst thing you have to see.”

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the blaze.

___

1:14 p.m.

Stuffed animals are piling up beneath colorful balloons in a makeshift memorial outside the Ohio home where a late-night fire killed five young children, including 1-year-old twins.

Youngstown Fire Capt. Kurt Wright says the other children were ages 9, 3 and 2.

Wright says the mother jumped from a second-floor window and was hospitalized with injuries. He says no one else was in the home.

The Mahoning County coroner’s office hadn’t publicly identified the children by midday Monday as officials were working to notify relatives.

State and local investigators are trying to determine the cause of the Sunday night blaze. The damage was mostly on the home’s first floor, leading them to believe the fire started there.

Officials say there was no immediate sign that the fire was suspicious.

___

8:30 a.m.

Authorities say a house fire has killed five young children in Ohio.

Youngstown Fire Capt. Kurt Wright says the first floor of the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Wright says three children were ages 9, 3 and 2 and the other two were 1-year-old twins.

Wright says firefighters managed to pull three of the children from the house, but they died at a nearby hospital.

The captain says the mother jumped from a second-floor window and is hospitalized with injuries. He says no one else was in the home.

Wright says two firefighters were injured. One was treated at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital for treatment and released.

The captain says the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.