House fire kills 2 adults, 4 children
A neighbor said she was awakened by the victims' yelling.
CANTON (AP) -- An early morning fire engulfed a house today, killing two adults and four children, the coroner's office said.
A seventh person, a woman, was flown by helicopter to an Akron hospital in critical condition with burns, said Rick Walters, an investigator with the Stark County Coroner's Office.
Two adults and a child pulled from the first floor died at the house, coroner's chief investigator Harry Campbell said. The three others were pronounced dead at hospitals.
Campbell said the children are believed to range in age from 2 months to 10 years.
Joyce Hodous, who lives three houses down the street, said she was awakened about 4 a.m. by the victims' yelling.
"There were children screaming to get out, 'please help me,'" she said.
Hodous said she believed several men lived in the home with white siding that has charring around the front and side windows.
City spokesman George Davis said firefighters could not get to the three people on the first floor until they knocked down flames. Two of them were found in a hallway, and another was at the base of the stairs, he said.
Firefighters used ladders to get to the others in the top floor through the windows, Davis said.
The battalion captain told him the home had no smoke detectors, he said.