Fire Kills 4 After Power to Home Is Shut Off
Hours after authorities cut off electricity at a house for nonpayment, a fire swept through the home, killing four children.
Christine Kuns, 27, escaped from the home late Tuesday with two children.
“She was frantic,” said neighbor Fred Wilson. “Flames were coming out the front window. It was too hot to get inside.”
It was not known whether the lack of electricity played a part in the fire in this city 100 miles northwest of San Francisco. The power to the house was shut off earlier in the day after a three-month attempt to gain payment, City Manager Candace Horsley said Wednesday.
The cause of the fire was not known, but the blaze did not appear to be intentionally set, the Fire Department said.
Killed were four children, ages, 7, 5, 4 and 1. Kuns and two girls, ages 8 and 2 1/2 months, were treated at a hospital and released.
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