A mother and her four young children died after an overnight mobile home fire near Canton in Van Zandt County early Wednesday, officials said.
Firefighters from the Canton, South Van Zandt, Ben Wheeler and Wills Point departments were dispatched shortly after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday to a structure fire at 482 County Road 4127, just outside Canton, after reports of people trapped inside, according to Van Zandt County Fire Marshal Kevin Palmer.
Three people escaped on their own, but four children remained inside. Heavy fire conditions forced crews to breach an exterior wall to reach them. Three of the children—boys ages 8 and 5, and a 3-year-old girl—were already dead when firefighters located them in a bedroom. A 10-year-old boy was taken to a local hospital and later airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, where he died. The children’s mother was also airlifted from the scene to a Dallas hospital and died Wednesday evening.
Two other occupants were taken by ambulance to a hospital as a precaution. The family’s identities have not been publicly released.
South Van Zandt Volunteer Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Foster, whose crew assisted, said the mobile home was half involved when Canton firefighters arrived. Crews believe the fire started near the front door, with the heaviest flames toward the middle and right side of the home. Firefighters cut through the side of the structure to reach the children because trees blocked access and a window was boarded. The fire was controlled in about 20 minutes.
Canton Independent School District later released a statement mourning the loss of students at Canton Elementary and Canton Intermediate Schools. The district said counselors and support staff would be available on campus to assist students, staff and families affected by the tragedy.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Van Zandt County Fire Marshal’s Office, with additional details expected later. The deaths came amid a difficult stretch for the small East Texas community, which also lost a sheriff’s deputy in a separate overnight shootout.
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