Six children die in house fire

Six children died in a Louisiana house fire after rescuers were unable to fight their way through thick clouds of smoke.

Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Robert Combs said an overloaded extension cord sparked the blaze and flames engulfed the house within minutes.

At the time, the children and two of their siblings were being cared for by their grandmother. Their mother and three other siblings were at a wedding.

The grandmother escaped the blaze with two of her grandchildren.

‘‘She did all she could to get back in,’’ said Alvin Banks, 31, one of the first people to the scene. ‘‘We

had to hold her back or else it would have been her, too.’’

Banks said he tried to save the children by kicking in the front door but that he was overcome by smoke.

About nine other bystanders smashed windows to try to rescue the children but couldn’t get through the smoke, Banks said.

‘‘There were 10 of us, and we couldn’t do nothing,’’ Banks said. ‘‘The kids were screaming for their lives.’’

Combs said that when firefighters arrived flames had swept through most of the home. He said two firefighters were injured with first-degree burns to the face.

‘‘When there are kids involved, that adds to the devastation. It’s natural to feel a little more attached to kids. The firefighters take it a little more personally,’’ he said.

The victims were identified as: Kara Norman, 10; Chelsea, four; Jeremy, three; Shelby, two; and eight-month-old twins Kaleb and Fleming.

Neighbours said the 11 children lived in the bungalow with their mother, 32-year-old Vanessa Norman, and their grandparents.

In 2000, Vanessa Norman was arrested and booked with second-degree murder after a daughter died from malnutrition and dehydration.