A space heater is thought to be the cause of a fire that killed three young children in their El Reno home in Oklahoma on New Year’s day.
Three -year-old Gunner Ray Redbird, four year-old Amylah Dawn Redbird, and 22-month-old Mayley Jean Redbird were sleeping in their shared bedroom shortly before dawn when the fire started.
When firefighters arrived at the home, they saw the two parents, Jamez Redbird and Kee Yanna Osage, carrying the corpses of two of their children out of the smoke-filled home. Another yet-to-be identified adult was carrying the body of the third child.
Melissa Goodblanket, Jamez Redbird’s aunt, posted on Facebook:
“To lose a child is horrific, to lose three at the same time is unimaginable. Universal powers hear my cry for help for them. I’m just so heartbroken...want to wipe away this pain for them...ease it somehow!
Thanks for all the prayers going up for them.”
“How the community is reaching out to this family is just incredible to me.”
Space Heater the Likely Cause
No official cause of death for the fire has been released but El Reno Firre Chief Kent Lagaly said the symptoms were those of smoke inhalation.He also said that while it was not yet officially determined that the space heater started the blaze, people needed to be extremely careful when using them.