Wesley Harvey was charged with abandoning or endangering a child after a fire in West Lubbock County, Texas claimed the lives of four children, the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Deputies from the Lubbock Sheriff’s Office along with members of the Wolfforth, Woodrow, and Carlisle Volunteer Fire Departments and EMS crews responded to a house fire 14000 block of County Road 1430 in Wolfforth around 11 p.m. on Nov. 7.
The first responders found four children trapped inside the residence. The first responders employed life-saving resuscitation measures, but it was too late. All four children, ranging in age from two to seven years in age, were pronounced dead, officials from the Woodrow Volunteer Fire Department told KCBD.
Officials have not yet discovered what caused the blaze.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.
A neighbor witnessed part of the incident. The man, whose identity has not been released, told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that he saw first responders carrying two children out of the blazing building. The first responders attempted to revive the children with CPR, he said.
He also said that there were usually a couple of vehicles parked by the house, but when he returned home that night, the fire was already burning and there were no cars parked on the property.
Some the deceased children attended school in the Frenship Independent School District. District officials released this statement on Nov. 8, KCBD reported:
“The Frenship ISD family shares our deepest condolences as we grieve today with those who experienced tragic loss in last night’s house fire.
“We extend our love and deepest sympathies to the families affected as we carry the burden of this tragedy together.”
