Smoking cigarettes may have caused the Ohio mobile home fire that consumed five children and one man, investigators said Friday, adding that burning candles could also be the culprit, St. Louis Today reported Saturday.
Smoking cigarettes or burning candles is now seen by investigators as the root cause of the mobile home fire in Ohio that killed five young children and their mother's boyfriend.
Tiffin Fire Chief William Ennis Jr. said although the cause of the Ohio fire was initially listed as undetermined, evidence found by the investigators give strong clues that either smoking cigarettes or burning candles started the blaze.
"We can't tell you exactly whether it was a candle or a cigarette, but it was one of those two, we're certain," Ennis said.
Ennis added that investigators also found out that working smoke detectors were present inside the trailer while it was still burning, based on the statements firefighters had said, claiming that they heard the alarm going off when they managed to penetrate through the flame.
The Tiffin, Ohio mobile home fire happened Sunday morning, and it killed five children age 1 to 6 and their mother's boyfriend.
Previous reports stated that the mother of the consumed kids, Anna Angel, was apparently working when the fire had broken out. A friend told her about the tragic event, leading Angel to scramble on her bicycle to reach the scene right away. But in just about 12 minutes through the fire, firefighters managed to retrieve the children and the man, who were rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead few minutes after, the Bade, a newspaper in Toledo, reported.
Angel's four daughter, ages, 3,4,5 and 6, were laid to rest in a single casket Thursday while her son, 1, was buried with his father, Angel's boyfriend, who was also consumed in the flame.
According to several reports, the fire, which is now believed to have been due to smoking or burning candles, swept through the mobile home rapidly, destroying the windows and peeling the trailer's aluminum sliding.
An investigator said Friday that Angel's daughters were all found inside a bedroom and hallway near the rear end of the trailer while her son was found with his father, wrapped in a pile of clothes.
Investigators speculated that the father, Timothy Fresch, tried to save his son, but failed to get escape the burning mobile home.
"Our feeling was that by the time he got him, the fire grew so fast he had no way to get out," Ennis said. "That was the same with the girls."
Nevertheless, authorities maintained that no evidence could indicate that the accident was a criminal case.
St. Louis Today reported that organizers raised a fund to provide assistance to Angel in paying for the funerals and other expenses. They managed to raise $16,000 within two days after the incident.
Meanwhile, Rappers The Game and Drake pledged to donate $22,500 to Angel after they heard about the Ohio mobile home fire.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
