Update 03/02 9:40 p.m. — The mother of the children killed in a house fire in riddle this week has died.
Another son, also in critical condition died today as well according to KGW news in Portland.
At last check, an adult man is the only survivor of the fire which already took the lives of 4, 5, 10, and 13 year olds.
He is at a hospital in Portland listed in critical condition.
More than 30-thousand dollars has been raised so far on a GoFundMe page.
KGW also reports the cause of the fire was a space heater.
Riddle, Ore (CNN) — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the fire happened around two on Wednesday morning at third avenue and Harbor Street.
One resident said he was woken up by the city-wide fire alarms and saw the flames. “I heard the alarm go off for the town. I walked out on the back porch and thought my house was on fire, or the one next to me. So, I sat out there for a minute, and it was getting pretty big, you know? It was worrying me, pretty much,” neighbor Joe Carlson said.
Officials said the home belongs to Jimmy and Tabitha Howell.
The Howells and one of the children in the home, 13-year-old Andrew Hall-Young, were flown to Legacy Emanuel in Portland with severe injuries.
Four other children lost their lives — 4-year-old Gwendolyn Howell, 7-year-old Haley Maher, 10-year-old Isaiah Young, and 13-year-old Nicholas Lowe.
The sheriff’s office has not told us the relationship between those in the home.
The Riddle superintendent says the family was in the process of moving to Myrtle Creek — and had the kids enrolled in school there this year.
But counselors were at both Riddle and Myrtle Creek schools on Thursday to help other kids process what’s going on — and weed out rumors.
Riddle School District Superintendent David Gianotti said, “Because in a small community or a small school setting, there’s a lot of rumors and speculation about what happens, what has happened, or what will happen, or what’s currently happening, and, to be honest, we don’t know a lot of that.”
Gianotti says the counselors may return to the schools on Friday and check in periodically over the next few weeks.
(You can visit the GoFundMe set up for the family here: https://www.gofundme.com/tragic-fire-claims-children)
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