Five children killed in house fire while dad was Christmas shopping – Law Officer

BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – Five children died Saturday in a residential fire while the father left them home alone to go Christmas shopping. Four of the victims were the grandchildren of an Arizona fire inspector alongside a young cousin, according to police and grieving family members.

Four siblings — boys ages 2, 5 and 13 and their 4-year-old sister — died alongside an 11-year-old male relative who was visiting them in their duplex Saturday evening, the Bullhead City Police Department said.

The deadly residential blaze occurred in the 400 block of Anna Circle at approximately 5 p.m., police said in a press statement.

“There were no survivors,” police said of the fire that appears to have started in the downstairs foyer and traveled up the stairs, trapping all five children in the upstairs bedroom.

“The children’s father reported to investigators that he was gone for approximately 2.5 hours to buy groceries and Christmas gifts,” police said.

Neither the father nor the underage children were formally identified, but their names emerged in a series of heart-wrenching social media tributes by grieving family members of the dad, John Jones, the New York Post reported.

The news outlet identified the victims via a trail of social media content. Read more here.

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