HOUSE FIRE Seven children, two adults lose lives in morning blaze

A councilwoman said this was the neighborhood's worst fire in a generation.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A fire broke out at a crowded house during a children's sleepover early Saturday, killing seven children and two adults, the fire department said. The fire was so hot it scorched the frame of the home jet black and forced back neighbors who rushed in to help.
Eleven people were in the house when the blaze started about 3 a.m., and two children were there for a sleepover, Assistant Fire Chief Brent Collins said. Two people at the house survived.
The victims included a mother and four of her children, along with the woman's sister and her son, plus a cousin and a friend, Collins said. Fire investigators identified the victims by interviewing family members, said David Fitz, a spokesman for Mayor Jane Campbell.
The initial investigation indicated the fire at the 99-year-old home was not suspicious and appeared to be an accident, said Fire Chief Paul Stubbs, who refused to speculate on the cause.
At an afternoon news conference outside the home, Campbell said she had spoken with family members. "The tragedy was so quick, so overwhelming, the only thing they have asked for at this point is please see if you can figure out how this happened and offer your prayers," the mayor said.
One victim, identified by the fire department as 33-year-old Media Carter, was well known in the neighborhood for welcoming her children's friends into her home, offering them rides to school and hosting sleepovers.
"She was real respected. She treated me like a son," said Devon Cabeza, 14. He said he played basketball with one of the victims, an eighth-grade classmate.
Four of Carter's children, 15-year-old Davonte Carter, 13-year-old Moses Williams, 12-year-old Maleeya Williams and 7-year-old Fakih Jones, died in the fire, Collins said.
Also killed were Media Carter's 34-year-old sister Sheria Carter, and Sheria's son Antwone Jackson, 14, Collins said. He identified the other victims as Jackson's cousin Ernest Tate, 13, and a friend, 13-year-old Miles Cockfield.
The Cuyahoga County coroner, Dr. Elizabeth Balraj, identified the five teenage boys and Media Carter. The other victims died of smoke inhalation and burns, said Balraj, adding DNA tests would be needed for positive IDs.
She said those victims were a young boy and two females and she was unsure of their ages, including whether one of the victims was a girl or a woman. She also said Media Carter was 34, one year older than what fire officials reported.
Autopsies will be done on the other six victims today, she said.
One survivor was treated for minor injuries and the other was hospitalized in critical condition, Stubbs said. The nursing supervisor at MetroHealth Medical Center confirmed a woman from the fire was being treated at the hospital, but she wouldn't discuss the victim's injuries.
Assessing damages
An investigation into the fire's cause centered on the house's first floor, which sustained heavy fire damage, Assistant Fire Chief Tim O'Toole said. The second floor, where all the bodies were found, was heavily damaged by smoke and soot, he said.
Much of the white, wood-frame house was charred and the roof over the front porch was partially collapsed. Every visible window had been shattered.
Two adjacent homes sustained some fire damage. Firefighters removed three people from those homes through upstairs windows, Campbell said.
The neighborhood, about 3 miles from downtown, has older homes that are rented to lower-income families. Many of the houses have been refurbished, but a few are boarded up.
Councilwoman Fannie Lewis, who has represented the neighborhood for 22 years, said it was the city's worst house fire in a generation. Lewis said 13 people were killed in a house fire in 1979.
As daylight broke, dozens of neighbors, family and friends gathered near the scene, hugging and crying as they surveyed the damage. A smell of soot hung in the air, and firefighters shoveled debris onto a small, fenced front yard.
Neta Dawson, who lives across the street, said she awoke in the early morning to loud pops that sounded like gunfire. She said her son, Jennings Dawson, owned the house where Carter lived and took good care of it but didn't live there himself.
"He's taking it hard," said Neta Dawson, 69.
She said her 14-year-old grandson had stopped by the home Friday evening and was thinking about staying over but ended up leaving. "He said it was too crowded," she said.