Twin boys, 1 other, killed in Detroit house fire
Twin boys and their grandmother are dead, and a 4-year-old girl was burned badly in a house fire on Detroit’s west side early Tuesday morning.
A 911 call came in at about 12:42 a.m. on the report that there were people trapped in a house fire, said Dave Fornell, deputy commissioner of the Detroit Fire Department. When firefighters responded, the first floor of the home in the 18100 block of Lahser, south of West Seven Mile, was “fully involved” with fire.
The fire didn’t take long to extinguish, but had already done damage by the time it was put down.
Two twin boys, 3-years-old, died, as did their grandmother, who was 46. The 4-year-old girl was taken to Children’s Hospital with second and third-degree burns, and is in critical condition. The twins and the grandmother were deceased when firefighters arrived, Fornell said in an update from the scene.
In the early stages of the investigation, Fornell said arson investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen, and was accidental.
The fire detectors appeared to be working, Fornell said, but he added that "fumes and smoke can affect you to the point the fire detectors don't wake you up."
Around 12 people were in the home at the time, Fornell said.
The grandmother was found upstairs, on the floor, cradling one of the twin boys in her arms, he said.
The 4-year-old girl, a cousin of the twin boys who lives in the home's basement, is in critical but stable condition at Children's Hospital.