JACKSON – Firefighters responded to an apartment fire on Forest Avenue late Saturday night that left a 28-year old woman and her four children dead. The cause of the blaze is still unknown, but authorities said the only adult victim, Dominique Henderson, lived in a second floor apartment at the Lakeview Apartments with her four children aged 7, 5, 3 and 2.
Chief R.D. Simpson, Public Information Officer, with the Jackson Fire Department, said the fire broke out about 12:45 a.m., and at least 25 firefighters from surrounding stations responded to the scene.
“It was fully involved when we got there,” Simpson said. “But we were able to gain access to it. We had to ladder the building and come in through the window. But we didn’t know who was inside. The only thing we could do was gain access to them and seek medical attention. But we didn’t know if they were dead or alive.”
Simpson said Henderson’s apartment was located on the west side of the apartment complex that houses at least six other families.
Simpson said when they entered the burning unit, they had no idea how many people were actually inside the apartment.
“We always enter a structure with an “unknown,”” Simpson said. “We may have an idea from family members standing around who is unaccounted for. But we don’t know exactly how many people could have been staying somewhere else for the night or if there were other children spending the night there.”
Simpson said as firefighters battled the blaze, the bodies of two children were discovered, one in the hallway and another nearby.
Those two victims were transported to UMC where they were pronounced dead.
Simpson said firefighters were on the scene several hours, until about 5 or 6 a.m., and once the blaze was extinguished, the bodies of the remaining victims, Henderson and two other children, were found. They were also transported to UMC where they were pronounced dead, he said.
WLBT identified the children as 7-year-old Akyerria, 5-year-old Bryceston, 3-year-old Cylor, and 2-year-old Ethan.
Simpson said these are the first fire fatalities in Jackson this year.
Simpson said the investigation is ongoing, but an initial report is scheduled to be released later this week. Until that time, he said, no details as to where the fire started or if the apartment had working fire and smoke detectors could be released.
Simpson also said he could not confirm reports of neighbors trying to climb up meters in an effort to reach the Henderson family.
“Once we got there, we cordoned off the perimeter and there were no civilians there,” he said. “So if it happened, it happened before we got there.”
Simpson said the entire building was affected by the fire with the top floors sustaining fire damage and the bottom floors having possible water damage. He said the other families living in the unit were left homeless after the fire.
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