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Kelli Franklin, 4, Tysheen Terry, 4, and DeAndre Terry, who would have turned 4 Tuesday, died in the fire.
HARRISBURG, Pa. --
The Harrisburg Fire Department is investigating a row home fire that killed five people, including four young children.
The blaze started shortly before 8 p.m. Monday in the 600 block of Forrest Street (see interactive map below), according to firefighters.
Fire inspectors think a space heater may have sparked the blaze, Chuck Ardo, Mayor Linda Thompson's representative, said. Officials are still investigating the cause, he said.
Derrion Terry, 2; DeAndre Terry, who would have turned 4 Tuesday; Kelli Franklin, 4; and Tysheen Terry, 4, were killed in the fire. Cornelia Brooks, 49, was also killed. They died of smoke inhalation and burns.
Amanda Franklin, Kelli's mother, also lives in the home and survived.
"I just wish I could have run back in there and got them. I lost my babies and my sister," said Franklin.
Franklin and Brooks were getting the kids ready for a bath when they smelled smoke, Franklin said.
Franklin went downstairs and saw thick smoke in the kitchen, she said. So she opened the back door and then realized it was a big fire.
She tried to get back inside through the front door, but neighbors wouldn't let her go, she said.
Firefighters said they did not hear smoke detectors in the home. Some of the windows in the home were screwed shut, apparently to prevent break-ins.
Sixty-five percent of all fire deaths occur in homes where there are no smoke alarms or smoke alarms that are not working, according to the National Fire Protection Association. For tips on what you should do to check the fire alarms in your home,
