Three children dead & four others hurt in Houston, Texas home day care fire. HFD brings out five this afternoon.
Earlier coverage from Firegeezer.com
Three children are dead and four others are hospitalized after fire broke out at a home day care facility in Houston, Texas. An assistant fire chief told reporters that 22-year-old Jessica Tata, the operator of the facility, was was the only adult overseeing the children at the time of the fire. This apparently is in violation of state regulations.
From a Houston Chronicle article by Zain Shauk and Peggy O’Hare:
HFD Executive Assistant Chief Rick Flanagan said CPR was being performed on four of the children as they were being taken to a hospital. The ages of the children range from 18 months to 3 years.
Late this afternoon, Tata was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Flanagan said she may have experience increased anxiety.
A witness who lives on the block, Michael McAndrews, 50, said Tata was outside the facility during the fire frantically exclaiming, “My kids, my kids, pray for them.”
McAndrews said Tata stated she went to the bathroom at the facility and when she came out the kitchen was on fire.
Five of the children were trapped inside the facility and were rescued by Houston firefighters, while the other two children were found outside the home.
A year ago today, the operation, registered as a “child-care home,” was cited by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services’ Child Care Licensing division for not having a fire extinguisher on hand.
