West Virginia Fire Takes The Lives Of 6 Kids, 2 Adults: Did Smoke Detectors Play A Factor?

Eight family members were killed in their Charleston, West Virginia, two-story home when a fire broke out on Saturday. The fire is the deadliest one to strike the city in at least six decades.

At the time of the fire 10 people were inside the home, all related, but police are unsure how. The mayor of Charleston told the Associated Press that a woman and a baby made it out of the burning home, but the child is on life support and not expected to survive. The six children that did not survive the fire are believed to all be under the age of eight-years-old.

The fire, which occurred around 3:30 a.m., was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived. The woman who made it out of the house went to a neighboring home to report the fire, the AP reported. When firefighters finally made their way into the home, Bob Sharp, Charleston Assistant Fire Chief said that they started realizing there were a lot of people in this house, a lot of children.

According to CNN, a birthday party for one of the adults in the home lead to the 10 people spending the night in the Charleston home. Police are currently investigating the fire which started in the middle of the main level of the home. The only smoke detector in the home was not working and discovered inside a cabinet. No foul play is suspected.