Community honors father and 4 children killed in Jeannette house fire
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - It was a somber day Friday in Greensburg as hundreds of people went to the Word of Life Church to say their final goodbyes and honor the five lives lost in the Jeannette house fire more than two weeks ago.
Tyler King and four of his children, seven-year-old Kyson, six-year-old Kinzleigh, three-year-old Keagan, and one-month-old Korbyn John died after their home on Guy Street went up in flames last month. Miranda John and the couple's two other children escaped.
The incident has devastated family, friends, and the greater community, who poured into Word of Life Church, traveling through snow and sleet to get there.
James Doran is the administrator of the ministry, which offered up its space for the funeral.
"This is just so unimaginable that four little children and a father would lose their lives in such a catastrophic way," Doran said. "It's just been difficult, but I had a feeling that this was going to happen that we were going to be able to offer our facility to help this community grieve, and that's what we're just trying to do is make ourselves available to them."
He said the service was managed and put on by the Salvation Army, Mosaic Community Church in Jeannette and the Father's Heart Ministry in Penn.
"We're here for the community as a whole and when these tragedies come, we just want to make ourselves available to them to help them in any way we can to minister to them," Doran said.
They can hold just under 1,000 people and have overflow rooms ready to go just in case, trying to make loved ones as comfortable as they can.
"Whatever we can do to support this family in this time of great need, we'll do it," Doran said.
Jeannette City Schools had a flexible instruction day to give families the chance to come together and grieve.