By Robert Imrie
The Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. — A late-evening fire swept through a home in this central Wisconsin town, killing three children, authorities said Wednesday.
Authorities said the mother escaped the Tuesday evening blaze along with her other four children.
“I heard a lady screaming and hollering. The next thing I know she came running out and said her kids were inside,” said a neighbor, Bryan Hearron. “We thought the whole house was going to blow, with a fire like that.”
Faith Elizabeth Fondie, 2, and Mackenzie Marie Block, 8, died in the fire. Their 9-year-old brother, Mitchell Melvin Block, died Wednesday at a Marshfield hospital, police Chief Jeff Hardel said.
Hardel said the mother, Lorie Block, and her friend Nathan Fondie tried to get back into the two-story house to reach the other children, but were driven back by flames.
Hardel said the fire’s cause remains under investigation. But he said it’s believed to have started in the bedroom where a baby was sleeping and one of the things being looked at is whether an extension cord had too many things plugged into it.
The children who escaped unhurt were two teen girls, a 3-year-old boy and an 8-month-old boy. Three women upstairs also were able to flee the two-story duplex.
Mike Matti, 53, lives across the street and rushed to console the mother and surviving children as they stood helplessly watching.
“She was freaking out,” he said. “She said she tried to get back in. The kids were in the back bedroom. She just said it was really hot, really fast. The baby slept with her so she grabbed the baby.”
Matti said his 11-year-old son played with some of the children earlier Tuesday night, and they often walked to school together. The boy was “just in shock” over the tragedy, Matti said.
Fighting back tears, Matti said: “It’s very sad. You never know, that’s for sure.”