One Child Dead, Another Critical Following House Fire
DETROIT (WWJ) - A 4-year old girl is dead and her brother is in critical condition, following a house fire on Detroit's eastside.
Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, flames and thick heavy smoke rushed through the home on Buffalo Street, near Six Mile.
Three young children and their parents were at home when the blaze broke out, leaving the house charred and the siding melted.
WWJ's Pat Sweeting's spoke with one man who said everyone in the neighborhood tried to help. "We were trying to break in through the window, but we could not get in," he said.
Another neighbor, Muhammed Salem, who said he awoke to the smell of smoke. When he went outside to investigate, he saw the house up in flames.
Salem said two small children were in the basement when firefighters went into rescue them. They were taken to Children's Hospital where the boy died.
The parents and a 6-month old child got out safely.
Salem said he knows the family and imagines they're in shock.
"We've lived here about three years. I've gotten to know them over the years. They're nice people. About four of those houses all together -- right down the road next to each other -- they're all family. I mean, for one of the houses to be gone like that... I just don't know how they're feeling right now," Salem said.
Salem said the flames were gone by the afternoon, but firefighters were still spraying water on the heavy smoke. He said the house looks like it's a total loss.
Neighbors said they heard the fire was accidental. The cause remains under investigation.
