Tragic Buffalo house fire kills 3 young girls aged 7, 8, and 10 as infant and another child hosptalized
BUFFALO, NEA YORK: A Buffalo house fire that left three girls dead and several others injured, happened days after the historic 'Bomb Cyclone' rocked the city. Eight people, including six children, were inside the two-story house at 207 Dartmouth Avenue when the fire broke out just before 7.30 am on Saturday, December 31.
Six children in total, ranging in age from 7 months to 10 years, were removed from the house. At the Oishei Children's Hospital, two patients remain in critical condition, while the infant, a girl, is in a stable state. The home belonged to Clarence and Lisa Liggans family and the identities of the children are unknown. According to sources and officials, the children, aged 7, 8, and 10, died after firefighters helped in evacuating them from the 1.5-story, single-family home on Dartmouth Street.
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Five children who were in cardiac arrest on the scene and were being transported to the hospital underwent life-saving operations, according to Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo, who spoke to New York Post. The grandmother of the children, who escaped the 7.30 am fire holding the 7-month-old child, was intubated and is receiving treatment at the burn unit of the Erie County Medical Center, according to the fire commissioner.
Video of the incident shows officers climbing a ladder outside the house to enter the second level. Several firefighters tried to access the second story, but smoke could be seen coming out of it. Later, it was noticed that children were being carried away from the site on a stretcher. The infant was unhurt, but the grandmother, 63, and two of her grandchildren are still in severe condition.
#BREAKING: A devastating early morning fire on Dartmouth Ave. in Buffalo killed three young girls ages 7, 8 and 10. A female infant is in stable condition at Children’s. A male and female between ages 3 and 10 in critical condition. Their 63y/o grandmother in critical at ECMC. pic.twitter.com/5pgFhcTr4l
— Patrick Ryan (@patryanreports) December 31, 2022
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. Renaldo, however, claimed that the fire seemed to have originated in the dining room area on the first floor of the house. "The story is a tragedy but the firefighters did an amazing job, heroic job, rescuing them, getting them outside," Renaldo stated. One of the fire companies had known the family prior to the blaze, and helped get gifts and clothes for the children for Christmas, he added.
The family was a part of the Buffalo Cornerstone Church Ministries. The deaths were a "tragedy," their pastor Dwayne Price stated to DailyMail. "The Liggans family are wonderful they always put people in the community first," Price stated. "I'm really glad to know them it's a complete tragedy, this is the last thing you have on your mind, or what you're expecting going into the New Year." The pastor has initiated a GoFundMe page in order to help the family. "They've been in the community a really long time, we just want to be able to help them while they're hurting," he stated. "They lost everything."
A family member Brigite White posted a heartfelt post on social media seeking prayers for Clarence and Lisa Liggans. She wrote, "Hey family and friends..please call my brother and sister Clarence Banky Liggans and Lisa Liggans name up in prayer with a mighty force...Also cover their babies...your VarSon family got you...familyeffectedbythefire."