CLAY, W.Va. — Counselors were available for students, faculty and staff at Clay County Elementary School Monday dealing with the deaths of three students.
Three of the four foster children who died in a Saturday night house fire in Clay were students at the school not far from where they lived with their foster parents.
The children, ages 8, 6, 4 and 6 months, became trapped in the Main Street house that authorities said burned quickly. The foster parents, a teenager and two-year-old child were able to get out of the burning house.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office said in a news release that upon examination of the scene, investigators have ruled the fire to be undetermined in cause but most probably accidental and confirmed there were smoke alarms in the home.
Deputy State Fire Marshal Jason Baltic said Monday the damage was likely too extensive to be able to determine exactly what started the fire. Baltic said the foster parents were able to point out a relative area where the fire began.
The house, believed to be about 100-years-old, was a balloon construction house, meaning the studs ran from the floor to the roof with no fire breaks. Baltic said that caused the flames to spread very quickly once they reached the area behind the walls.
Baltic said three of the four children who died were upstairs when the fire began. He said their foster parents and the teenager tried numerous times to reach them.
As foster children, the victims were under the care of state Department of Health and Human Resources’ Bureau for Children and Families.
A release by the DHHR on Monday said the initial home study revealed that the foster home had working smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and carbon monoxide detectors. The agency said that an in-person visit by a DHHR worker was last made to the foster home last month and no issues were noted.
Bill J. Crouch, Cabinet Secretary of DHHR released the following statement on Monday.
“This event has been a truly heartbreaking experience for the Department and all those involved. “At this time, and because there are active investigations by the West Virginia State Police and the State Fire Marshal’s Office, along with pending autopsies, the DHHR is unable to discuss further details. We take the responsibility of caring for foster children seriously. Our continued thoughts are with those touched by this tragedy.”
The names of the victims have not been released as the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working on positive identification.
A candlelight vigil has been planned Tuesday at 6 p.m. in front of the new courthouse in Clay to remember the four children. A memorial has been started as the footsteps of the property with flowers and stuffed animals.
“That shows the love of our Clay County people,” Marleen Fitzwater, an aunt of one of the victims told WSAZ-TV. “We know everybody loves. It is a tragedy that is happen to all those little kids. That is just something horrible. Nobody wants to go through that and you never think it’s going to happen to you.”
A Facebook fundraiser page has been set up to raise money for the family. The page was started by Clay resident Megan Cole.
“I’ve seen so many people pour love out to me that don’t even know me well,” she said to WSAZ-TV of her past suffering from an illness. “It urged me to pay it forward, do something for someone that I don’t really know that well. I see them passing but it is a close knit community and we have to stick together.”
Jeff Jenkins contributed to this story.