5 children, 2 adults killed in Akron house fire
AKRON, Ohio _ Akron authorities have confirmed that seven people _ including five children _ died in a house fire early Monday morning in the city's Sherbondy Hill neighborhood, saying it was one of the deadliest residential fires in the community's history.
The cause of the blaze at the two-story home remains under investigation.
The house, which was gutted, was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the scene after 2:46 a.m. The entire front of the house and porch were charred.
Fire Chief Clarence Tucker said it was unclear whether there were working smoke alarms inside.
Officials at the scene declined to release the identities of the victims, but the victims were unofficially identified as Dennis Huggins and Angela Boggs, who both owned the home, and children Cameron Huggins, 1; Alivia Huggins, 3; Kylle Huggins, 5; Daisia Huggins, 6; and Jered Boggs, 14. Fire officials said the bodies still need to be positively identified through dental records,
Earlier in the day, authorities had said two adults and several children lived at the house.
There had been confusion early on about how many bodies were inside the house because the floor was unstable and fire investigators weren't able to enter the home.
Fire officials also were receiving conflicting numbers from family members and neighbors about how many people were living there.
Authorities had said the ages of the people who could have been in the house ranged from 1 to 38 years old.
_Akron Beacon Journal
