Overview
- Crews were dispatched around 12:30 a.m. Monday to a George Street home and arrived to find the first two floors engulfed.
- Neighbors tried to rescue occupants before firefighters arrived, efforts the fire chief described as heroic.
- An elderly man was found dead upstairs, and an 8-year-old located under a bed was removed through a window but was pronounced dead at 1:30 a.m.
- A mother, two school-aged children and another adult escaped; one woman was hospitalized and a firefighter sustained a minor injury.
- Officials cite a preliminary origin in a first-floor den, note renovations initially slowed access, and say state and local investigators are working the case as the Red Cross assists survivors.