3 children dead in Miami house fire

MIAMI – Three children are dead after they were trapped inside a home that caught fire Monday morning.

Miami firefighters responded to a residential fire at 3621 NW 18th Terrace just before noon Monday with reports of children trapped inside a burning home.

Within four minutes of receiving the 911 call, firefighters were at the scene and entered the home to free the occupants, believed to be children between the ages of 1 to 12.

Neighbors said firefighters emerged from the home a short time after entering it with the children and administered CPR to at least one of the victims.

All four children, as well as two women, were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, police said.

Police confirmed that three of the children died, though the exact cause was not immediately known.

The extent of the injuries and the condition of the two women taken to the hospital were unknown.

Prior to the arrival of firefighters, attempts by good Samaritans to enter the home and rescue the children were unsuccessful because the smoke was too thick, one neighbor said.

“We started breaking and breaking and breaking windows to see if we could see anything,” 18-year-old neighbor Rancel Arias said. “We circle around and the backdoor was closed. We tried to see if we could pull some kids through the window.”

The exact ages of the children have not been released.

A firefighter was also treated for smoke inhalation and is expected to recover.