GREENVILLE, Ohio - A fire that broke out at a two-apartment duplex in western Ohio on Sunday killed five people, including two children, and caused one woman to jump from a second-floor window to escape the flames, authorities said.
Three people died at the scene, and a fourth victim a 5-year-old girl died after she was taken to the hospital, Greenville fire chief Mark Wolf said.
Authorities confirmed a fifth fatality on Sunday night, but no further details were available, Greenvile fire dispatcher Melissa Fponaugle said.
At least 10 people, including a number of children, were inside one side of the duplex when the fire began at about 9 a.m., authorities said.
Several fire departments, the Darke County Coroner and two CareFlight helicopters were called at about 9:10 a.m. to the duplex in downtown Greenville, about 40 miles northwest of Dayton near the Indiana border.
Firefighters arrived about three minutes later to find the building fully engulfed in flames, said Greg Fraley, the city's mayor.
The helicopters flew a 5-year-old girl to Children's Medical Center and a woman to Miami Valley Hospital, both in Dayton, with serious burn injuries, Dayton television station WDTN reported. The girl died at the hospital, according to the Montgomery County coroner's office, which will conduct autopsies on the victims.
An exact number of injuries had not been determined Sunday afternoon, Fraley said.
The fire began in one of the building's two apartments, and then spread to the other apartment through a common attic, Greenville Fire Capt. Jeff Dohme said.
Neighbor Jason Forbis, 32, said he tried to put out the flames on one child by covering her with wet towels. It was unclear if she was the same girl who was airlifted and later died at a hospital.
"I keep focusing on the girl because I can still see her face," he said. "I will never forget that girl's face."
The building was heavily damaged, and authorities have not yet determined what started the blaze, Wolf said. Firefighters brought the fire under control before it spread to neighboring buildings, he said.
"It is the worst fire incident I've been at in my almost 30 years as a firefighter," Wolf said.
The duplex sits directly across the street from an elementary school, and grief counselors will be on hand there and at Greenville's other elementary school on Monday, said Greenville School District Superintendent Susan Riegle. It was unclear if any of the victims attended the schools.
Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com
First Published September 17, 2007, 1:16 a.m.
