LOGANSPORT, Ind. (WTHR) — Monday investigators ruled the fire that killed two Logansport children and critically injured their mother and baby brothers as accidental.
According to Fire Department Chief Bernie Mittica, the fire started in the home’s living room as result of an electrical problem. But without additional laboratory tests, investigators couldn’t be more specific.
Marlem Sosa escaped from a second story window with 4-month-old Navyien Carter Sosa Sawyer-Whitelow in her arms.
Sadly, her two other children, 5-year-old Cataleya Whitelow and 1-year-old brother Jason Whitelow Jr. did not survive.
Marlem has been hospitalized, suffering from smoke inhalation and a broken arm, and 4-month-old Nayvien is recovering from smoke inhalation and burns on his feet and hands. According to his father, Jason Whitelow, doctors hoped to have the child breathing on his own by Monday afternoon.
"They were the greatest ever, you know? My son Jason Jr., he was one year old, you know. Never got to see his second birthday, you know," Jason Whitelow told Eyewitness News. "Stepdaughter Jalen, she was like my bundle of life. She was like, 'Hey, you are the best stepdad ever. Thank you for always being there for me.' But when they needed me, I wasn't there."
Firefighters rushed to the house on Montgomery Street around 1:00 a.m. When fire crews arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, which forced the mother to jump from an upstairs window.
Indiana law requires landlords to install smoke detectors. Whitelow claimed he never saw any in the rented home. But according to Mittica, investigators found one but it was too damaged to determine whether it had been working.
Family members and friends are grieving. So are firefighters. It's been more than two years since Logansport experienced a fatal fire. Monday night, Mittica said counselors would be available to meet with firefighters.
A GoFundMe page has been organized to help support the family.
The state fire marshal is assisting the Logansport Fire Department in the investigation.