Baby and young kids die after being pulled from apartment fire, Georgia officials say
Three young children, including an infant, died of smoke inhalation after a fire broke out inside their Georgia apartment, officials told news outlets.
The fire started at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Country Oaks Apartments in Atlanta’s Fairburn Mays community, WANF reported, citing the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office released the kids’ names Feb. 20, according to WSB-TV. They are:
Jhacari White, 4 years old
Xyla White, 1 year old
Xhalia White, 9 months old
Firefighters arrived Wednesday to find a second-floor unit engulfed in flames and three children who needed medical attention outside, according to the station.
“One of the boys was already laying on the grass when we came outside, they were giving him CPR,” Laura Phillips, who lives in the unit below where the fire began, told WANF.
The children were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital but didn’t survive, WAGA reported. First Deputy Fire Chief James McLemore said they suffered from smoke inhalation, according to the station.
“I can’t imagine how tough it is to find out that your children passed away from smoke inhalation from the fire,” Mayor Andre Dickens told WSB-TV.
“I just went inside to talk to the mother and the family to lend them all the support we can give them,” Dickens said, according to the station. “It’s just a tragedy.”
McClatchy News reached out to Atlanta Fire Rescue for more information Feb. 20 and was awaiting a response.
Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation.