3 children killed in Centralia fire

CENTRALIA, Wash. — Three children sleeping in an upstairs bedroom were killed in an overnight house fire in Centralia Friday.

Latest developments:

• 3 children sleeping upstairs died in fire
• Mother sleeping downstairs escaped
• Fire started near front door
• Officer hurt trying to rescue children
• Cause of fire under investigation

Riverside firefighters were called to the 900 block of Ham Hill Road in Centralia at 12:45 a.m.

PHOTOS: Scene of Centralia triple fatal fire

When crews arrived, they found heavy fire coming from the multiple-story home.

Three children and their mother were sleeping inside on different floors. Centralia police spokesman Sgt. Carl Buster said the mother was sleeping on the first floor and the children were sleeping on the second floor and she was unable to reach them during the fire.

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"The mother woke up, fortunately. And did not get upstairs where her children were," said Buster. "The fire was between her and them. She just couldn't get to them."

Only the woman managed to get out of the home. She has not reported any injuries.

All three children died in the fire.  They were students at Centralia Public Schools in second, fourth and sixth grades.

A neighbor said the woman and her three children had lived in the home for about six months.

"Stood there for a long time. Hoping maybe we'd see some progress in bringing people out of there. And It never happened," said the neighbor, Dan.

Firefighters do not yet know what sparked the fire but say the flames started just to the right of the front door entrance in or near the living room and quickly spread.

There is nothing left of the first or second floor.

Police said based on the initial investigation, there is no reason to suspect foul play, but autopsies will be performed on the children to determine if they died during the fire or before.

Investigators questioned the mother for 30 minutes before she left, visibly shaken.

"She left with a friend and her parents were here. So she's with family and friends," said Buster.

A Centralia police officer seriously injured his hand when he tried to break out a window in an effort to rescue the children. He was taken to a local hospital.

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"When (two Centralia police officers) got here, the garage door was open so they went in and tried to get upstairs and it was just too hot with smoke and fire." said Buster.  So, they came out and went up onto a car and got up onto the roof and (the officer) just broke the window out with his hand, that's basically all he had, and all the gas and hot air and everything escaped at once. He got a pretty serious cut on his hand and had to go to the hospital to get some stitches but is going to be OK."

Firefighters were seen carrying a stove and other items out of the home as the investigation continues.

Cox Media Group