Six children, two adults killed in Charleston house fire

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Six children and two adults were killed in a fire in Charleston overnight in a home with no working smoke detectors.

Also an infant in the home was taken to a hospital, but was on life support and not expected to live, police said.

The fire began around 3:25 a.m. in the two-story wood frame house at 2 Arlington Ave.

All of the children who died in the fire were 8 years old or younger.

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201203240031

A terrible tragedy, especially on account of all the young people involved! A relative of mine was working in the trauma center when the victims were brought in. I'm sure she will never forget this day.

[emilyg]

1. Tragic.

[Staph]

2. The death toll is now nine.

Seven-year-old Timothy Bryan Camp was taken off of life support between 8:30 and 9:00, Sunday morning.

The most horrifying thing, for me, is that this was so easily preventable.

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Charleston's rental inspection, in operation for about nine months, might have forced (property owner) Shamblin to install proper smoke detectors in all bedrooms as required.

In fact, the home on Arlington Avenue popped up for a random inspection on the city building department's computerized system just last month, said George Jarrett, one of six property maintenance inspectors assigned to the program.

Both Shamblin and the tenant signed off on a form the inspector mailed in advance, notifying the owner of the pending inspection, Jarrett said. But when the inspector arrived on the designated day in late February only an under-aged teen was at home, he said, so the inspector declined to do the inspection.

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http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201203250043

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3. Little Timothy didn't have a chance.

He had flatlined but was brought back, either by the paramedics or the trauma center staff. Some of the Charleston General Hospital workers believed at the time that the effort was futile but they did everything they could.