Five children killed in horror house fire as two adults injured ‘trying to rescue kids’ who were ‘unable to escape’

FIVE children were killed and two adults injured in a house fire on Monday night. Fire crews responded to a call at 3.30am in Genessee, Pennsylvania, but were unable to save the five children who were reportedly inside of the home when the fire started. The fire broke out on Slingerland Road, and by the […]

FIVE children were killed and two adults injured in a house fire on Monday night.

Fire crews responded to a call at 3.30am in Genessee, Pennsylvania, but were unable to save the five children who were reportedly inside of the home when the fire started.

The fire broke out on Slingerland Road, and by the time state police and fire crews showed up to the scene, the home was already engulfed in flames, say reports.

According to Erie News Now, police said first responders discovered that “five juvenile victims were unable to get out of the residence.”

Two adults in the home, Charlie and Michele Erway, were able to escape but they both sustained injuries trying to rescue the children inside of the house.

Charlie reportedly sustained burns on his body, while Michele suffered injuries from jumping out of a window and inhaling smoke.

Both individuals were flown to a hospital in Rochester, New York, but there has been no update on their conditions.

Charlie’s father, Wayne Erway, lives next door to his son and heard the fire begin around 3 or 3.30am.

“I was down in the front room sitting in the chair and I thought I heard a, ‘Boom!’” Wayne Erway told the Olean Times Herald.

“(Charlie) usually goes to work toward the morning, and I thought at first he had started his car.

“But when I looked out here, it wasn’t car lights I was looking at. The house was pretty well engulfed.”

Fire and police crews are still investigating the cause of the fire, which seems to have started in the basement of the home.

Currently, the fire is not deemed suspicious in nature.

All five of the victims were teenagers and were in high school.

Three of the victims were children of Charlie and Michele, and the other two were friends staying overnight in the home, according to local reports.

Cops could not verify the names of the victims when contacted by The Sun.

A friend of the Erways set up a GoFundMe page, which has already raised almost $33,000.

“Thank you everyone for the words, hugs and prayers for our family. Deb and I both got a hug from (our daughter) Sunday, not knowing it would be our last one from our daughter,” Brian and Debra Salmonson, parents of one of the deceased teenagers, said in a post.

“We don’t know what to say or do right now, but knowing we have a big family and friends means so much to us and the kids right now. But as the tears coming rolling down, we would like to thank everyone, including the first responders. We are just praying for Charlie and Michele Erway’s recovery so we can be with the both of you.”

A GoFundMe for another one of the victim’s families can be found here.

Melissa Stocking, the aunt of one of the victims, also set up a GoFundMe for her niece’s family, writing “my niece was in the fire. (Her) family is going to need all the help and support they can get through this horrible time. (She) was so in love with another child lost in the fire, and he loved her as much.”

“The only grace that we can come to terms with this is that they were together. (She) leaves behind her mother Jean, Father Jon, Step-Father Donny, younger sister Lelynn, her grandparents as well as an Aunt and uncle and many cousins and other family members.”

Three of the victims were attending Northern Potter School District in Pennsylvania, which is offering grief counseling to all those who might need it.