The investigation continues today into the weekend house fire in Alexandria that killed four people, including three children. Alexandria Fire Department Chief Larry King says the deadly blaze started late Saturday night and half the home was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
“At this point, we are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, just hope we can come down to some sort of determination for their family’s sake,” said King.
King says there were no working smoking detectors in the home.
“Which is terrible in this day and time, because most fire departments will come and install and actually give those alarms to you, which would have possibly gotten these ladies out of the house,” said King.
An autopsy is scheduled Monday on the bodies.
The family has identified the victims as 48-year-old Verlana Cooper, seven-year-old Jayda Cooper, four-year-old Brooklyn Cooper, and four-month-old Dreya Russaw. King says the fire started in the living-dining room and no one was able to escape.
“We are awaiting lab results from samples we that took on scene, as soon as we can piece those things together, pretty sure we’ll have a determination on what actually caused the fire,” said King.
