A 3-year-old girl is dead and three of her siblings, as well as their 30-year-old mother, had life-threatening injuries after a fire in their Fort Smith home early Tuesday, authorities said.
Officers responded at about 3:15 a.m. for a call to support the Fort Smith Fire Department at a structure fire in the 800 block of North 35th Street, according to a news release by Fort Smith police. Responders found the four children and their mother inside of the home, the release states.
Police said the children, all of whom were under 11 years old, were flown to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock for treatment of life-threatening injuries. One of those children has since died.
Their mother was being held in a local hospital’s intensive care unit early Tuesday afternoon, according to authorities.
Carol Lewis, a neighbor, said she noticed the structure fire at about 3 a.m. when her brother-in-law, Charles Lewis, told her about it.
Charles Lewis said he was getting ready for bed when he heard a noise outside. He thought somebody was stealing something off his porch, but when he came out to investigate, he saw the house was on fire.
"I was just wondering if the people were home or not," Charles Lewis said.
The fire started in the living room, though the cause has yet to be determined, according to Fire Marshal Teddy Abbey.
The structure sustained about 30% loss of value as a result of the fire, Abbey said, while the contents of the structure sustained about 75% loss of value.
An investigation was ongoing, police said.