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9 dead in Memphis house fire, 1 child fighting for life

 
Frederick Terrell looks through the scene of a fatal fire Monday in Memphis. Six of the nine dead were children.
Frederick Terrell looks through the scene of a fatal fire Monday in Memphis. Six of the nine dead were children.
Published Sept. 13, 2016

MEMPHIS — Nine people — six children and three adults — died early Monday in Memphis' deadliest house fire in decades, and one other child is fighting for life at a hospital, authorities said.

Firefighters initially spotted light smoke outside the single-story wood-and-brick home in south Memphis when they arrived about 1:20 a.m., but encountered heavy smoke inside once they entered, Memphis Fire Services Director Gina Sweat said at a news conference Monday.

Sweat told reporters that fire crews found four adults and three children dead in the home. In a later news release, the Memphis Fire Department corrected the breakdown of the victims found in the home to three adults and four children.

Two other children died after being taken in extremely critical condition to a children's hospital, officials said.

One other child remains hospitalized, said Sweat, who called it the deadliest fire in Memphis since the 1920s. More recently, seven people died in a fire here in 2008, Fire department spokesman Wayne Cooke said.

The fire was caused by an electrical malfunction in an air conditioning unit's power cord in the living room, the Fire Department said in the news release. While the inside of the home was charred, the house didn't burn down and fire officials said only part of the house was affected by the fire.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland asked for prayers for family members of the dead, who weren't immediately identified. Some of the victims had signs of smoke inhalation, while others had burns, according to authorities.

"It's a very sad day," Strickland said. "We are all in mourning."

The wooden-frame home, which has a brick facade and bars on some of its windows and doors, is in a poor, working-class neighborhood of south Memphis. Investigators determined that the house had a working smoke alarm, the Fire Department said.

Sweat went to the site early Monday and spoke with firefighters shocked by the loss of life.

"You could feel the heavy in their hearts, and you could see the pain in their eyes," she said.

Frederick Terrell said he knew the family well and was stunned. He added that they were a close-knit family.

"It's hard," Terrell said. "Those kids were so loving, man."

Hours after the fire, a woman knelt on the ground outside the home and wept. Other people hugged each other and prayed together along the street.