Greensboro responders are grappling with the tragedy, and the fire department deployed its peer-support team to the scene
By Kenwyn Caranna News & Record Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Three children — all younger than 5 years old — died in a house fire on Monday morning, authorities said.
There was one survivor: the children’s mother, who was alert and conscious when she was taken to Moses Cone Hospital for treatment.
“This is devastating to the fire department, devastating to our community and I know devastating to this family,” said Dwayne Church, Greensboro’s deputy fire chief.
Guilford Metro 911 first received a call about the fire at 7:54 a.m. and were told shortly afterward that there might be three children in the one-story home. When firefighters arrived at 2518 Grimsley St. four minutes later, “there was fire coming out of every window and the front door,” Church described.
Several neighbors also alerted firefighters to the possibility that there might be children in the home with one pointing out the location of their bedroom.
It took firefighters about five minutes of battling the blaze to reach the children. The first child was brought out of the residence at 8:04 a.m., Church said, but it was too late.
Lt. Holly Pate with the Greensboro police said the woman’s three other children have been accounted for and are safe. Officials had no information regarding the children’s father.
It’s not yet known what caused the fire. Grimsley Street was still closed to most traffic late Monday afternoon as authorities continued investigating the fire.
“It is an active investigation with multiple fire investigators on the scene,” Church said.
The two-bedroom home had 672 square feet and was built in 1961, according to Guilford County property records. It is owned by Norman Bennett Boyles Jr., records show. Boyles, who owns a real estate company, could not be reached for comment.
Church said the fire department had its peer-support team come to the scene to talk with the firefighters about the tragedy.
“It hits home a little bit when all of our firefighters here have children at home,” Church said. “I can’t imagine the hurt and the pain that the family is going through at this time.
“Our firefighters are just numb,” Church said. “For some of these firefighters, this is the first time they’ve seen anything like this. We do have some veteran firefighters … who have seen this multiple times, but it never gets easy.”
Church added that responding firefighters — 35 were at the scene on Monday — did not hear any smoke alarms ringing, though that doesn’t mean there weren’t any in the house. “There was a lot of noise going on at first and a lot of fire.”
Church urged residents to make sure they have working smoke alarms in their homes. “It’s so easy because they’re free,” he said. “All you have to do is contact the Greensboro Fire Department and you can get a free smoke alarm — we’ll install it for you.” That number to call is 336-373-2576.
Reflecting on the morning’s events, Church said: “This is something that none of us like to see. This is not the way we want to celebrate Christmas season.”
Updated 1:46 p.m.
GREENSBORO — Three children — all younger than 5 years old — died in a house fire Monday morning, authorities said.
The children’s mother was alert and conscious when she was taken to Moses Cone Hospital for treatment, Greensboro Deputy Fire Chief Dewayne Church said at a news conference.
“This is devastating to the fire department, devastating to our community and I know devastating to this family,” Church said.
Guilford Metro 911 received a call about the fire at 2518 Grimsley St. at 7:54 a.m. and were told shortly afterward that there might be three children in the one-story home. When firefighters arrived four minutes later, “there was fire coming out of every window and the front door,” Church said.
Several neighbors also told firefighters that there might be children in the home and one neighbor pointed out the location of the children’s bedroom.
It took firefighters about five minutes of battling the blaze to reach the children. The first child was brought out of the residence at 8:04 a.m., Church said, but it was too late.
“Neighbors have reported that the mother did have seven kids at some point that lived in the house,” Church said. “We have done secondary search and found no other children in the house.”
He did not know where those other children might have been at the time of the fire and officials had no information regarding the children’s father.
It’s not yet known what caused the fire.
“It is an active investigation with multiple fire investigators on the scene,” Church said. Thirty-five firefighters and nine administrative chief officers were at the scene Monday morning, he said. The children’s bodies will be sent to the Medical Examiner’s Office.
The two-bedroom home had 672 square feet and was built in 1961, according to Guilford County property records. It is owned by Norman Bennett Boyles Jr., records show. Boyles, who owns a real estate company, could not be reached for comment.
Church said the fire department had its peer-support team come to the scene to talk with the firefighters about the tragedy.
“It hits home a little bit when all of our firefighters here have children at home,” Church said. “I can’t imagine the hurt and the pain that the family is going through at this time.
“Our firefighters are just numb,” Church said. “For some of these firefighters, this is the first time they’ve seen anything like this. We do have some veteran firefighters … who have seen this multiple times, but it never gets easy.”
He said responding firefighters did not hear any smoke alarms ringing at the scene, though that doesn’t mean there weren’t any in the house. “There was a lot of noise going on at first and a lot of fire.”
Church urged people to make sure they have working smoke alarms in their homes. “It’s so easy because they’re free,” he said. “All you have to do is contact the Greensboro Fire Department and you can get a free smoke alarm — we’ll install it for you.” That number to call is 336-373-2576.
Reflecting on the morning’s events, Church said: “This is something that none of us like to see. This is not the way we want to celebrate Christmas season.”
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Posted 10:15 a.m.
GREENSBORO — Three children are dead after a fire broke out at a local residence early Monday morning.
The blaze started around 7:54 a.m. When firefighters arrived minutes later, they found a house at 2518 Grimsley St. engulfed in flames. It took them at least five minutes of battling the blaze to reach the children, all under 5 years old.
The first child was brought out of the residence at 8:04 a.m., but it was too late.
A woman presumed to be their mother was taken to Moses Cone Hospital and is listed in stable condition.
It’s not yet known what caused the fire.
But something else, however, is numbingly clear: A tragedy took place this morning.
“This is devastating to the fire department, to the community and to the family,” Deputy Fire Chief Dwayne Church said.
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.