Monday April 15, 2013 6:10 p.m.
PINETTA, Fla. (WTXL)--A man is mourning the loss of his two grandchildren and their father who were all killed in a house fire.
The three of them were killed Friday in Madison County in Pinetta.
James miller is clinging to the memories of his grandchildren's smiling faces and laughter. This is a photo he shared with us of
5-year old Brian Moreno and his younger sister 3-year old Sienna Moreno.
"I couldn't believe it," said Miller. "We've struggled with it the past few days and now it's finally sinking
in."
He tells us he got word Friday that his grandchildren died in a house fire along with their dad Abraham Moreno. Miller says his daughter Tiffany Miller, the mother of the children planned to marry Moreno.
"She's struggling but she has faith in the lord and we're all praying for her," said Miller.
Firefighters believe the blaze started in the kitchen but the cause of it is under investigation.
The Pinetta volunteer fire chief lives across the street. When his wife saw smoke and flames he sprang into action and in just minutes he says there were 30 firefighters at this house.
It was too late. Firefighters could not get into the house in time to save the family.
"(There were) no smoke detectors," said Pinetta Volunteer Fire Chief Allen Shadrick. "If they're had been some, they may have been able to get out of the house. That's something we really need to work on everybody in the community should have smoke detectors."
Since the fire, the chief says there's been an outpouring of support for the family, especially the mom, who wasn't there when the deadly fire happened.
"We're a pretty tight knit community that looks out
for everybody else, " said Shadrick. "They know this is a family that needs a lot of love."
April 15, 2013 11:33 a.m.
PINETTA, Fla. (WTXL) -- Investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire Friday that killed a Madison County man and two small children.
Crews with the Madison County Fire Department confirm they were called out around 9 p.m. April 12 to a home on Highway 145 in Pinetta.
Three people, including a father and his two small children were killed. Their mother was reportedly at work at the time of the fire.
A State Fire Marshal is now working to try to determine a cause of the fire.
