A grandmother and four of her grandchildren were killed in a massive house fire in South Plainfield, NJ early this morning. The fire started sometime between 2:30 and 3 a.m. this morning inside a converted 19th century farmhouse. The identities of the victims haven't been released yet, but News 12 reported that a 12-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy, a 3-year-old boy, a 2-year-old and their grandmother were killed. Three other children escaped, including an 8-year-old who was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
“The flames were coming out of everywhere on the left side (of the house),” eyewitness Tim Curran, who lives across the street from the home, told the Daily News. “Then it went up and over the roof, and then the roof and the upper floor was on fire.” He said that the blaze started minutes after a car crash in the residence’s driveway, but police have yet to determine whether that crash sparked the fire or not.
Relatives told CBS that there were nine people in the house at the time of the fire altogether: seven children, their mother and their grandmother. The mother, two of her sons, and her baby daughter managed to escape the blaze. The 15-year-old boy who survived reportedly managed to grab his baby sister and save her from the fire.
Curran told The Star-Ledger that he didn't know who lived in the house, which has been a two-family rental unit for at least the past 20 years. But he added that there were always lots of activity going on: "Those kids were always out playing in that side yard," he said.
