JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three children were killed and four other people were critically injured in an early morning townhouse fire in Jacksonville’s Mandarin area Wednesday.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department crews responded to Windergate Drive just after 5 a.m. and found heavy fire on the first floor of the townhouse and heavy smoke on the second floor.
Two adults and two children managed to escape before firefighters arrived. All four were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Firefighters found three children dead while searching the home.
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The fire destroyed the townhouse and damaged two nearby units. Eleven other people were displaced and are receiving help from the American Red Cross.
The news devastated the children’s family, who are from Albania. A woman who works with the children’s grandmother said the grandmother learned about the fire after arriving at work. The coworker then drove her to the scene.
“She didn’t know nothing. Just she came in work and the people say what happened,” the coworker said. “Just shocked. She just cry. You can see her.”
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The damage remained visible hours after the fire. Much of the first floor was destroyed, and the devastation stretched through the back of the home and into the second floor.
Neighbors began placing flowers outside the townhouse as a memorial grew near the scene. Raul Contreras, who said he knew the family, described the loss as heartbreaking.
“It’s just so sad,” Contreras said. “Really just a sad thing to lose the children.”
The State Fire Marshal and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit are investigating. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
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