The Latest: Family in deadly camper fire was ‘struggling’

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The Latest on a hot plate fire that killed two children inside a camper trailer where the family was living in Georgia (all times local):

5:55 p.m.

A neighbour of a Georgia couple whose two young children died after the camper trailer where they lived caught fire says the family had been “struggling and struggling” to make ends meet.

Danny O’Neal said Thursday his neighbours, William Michael Reeves and Chassity Carter, had been living with their three children for months inside the small camper. Police say a fire sparked by a pot of noodles on a hot plate destroyed the camper Wednesday.

Two of the children — ages 3 years and 4 months — died. Their mother and a third child were critically burned.

O’Neal says Reeves had little money and neighbours would give the family food and bags of clothing for the children. They moved into the camper after their mobile home caught fire last year.

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4:30 p.m.

Authorities say a pot of noodles cooking on a hot plate sparked a fire inside a camper trailer that killed two young children and critically burned their mother and a sibling in coastal Georgia.

Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering (DORE-ing) told reporters Thursday that investigators believe the fire was accidental.

Neighbours reported hearing an explosion when the camper caught fire Wednesday. Doering said flames possibly detonated something in the home, but no foul play is suspected.

Authorities said the blaze killed 3-year-old Blayden Wade Reeves and his 4-month-old sister, Tallie Ann Carter. Their mother and a 2-year-old brother were in critical condition at a Florida burn centre.

Doering said the children and their parents had lived in the camper for months after their mobile home caught fire last May.