2 children dead, 1 left critically injured in early morning home fire, NC town says

UPDATE: The hospitalized sibling died late Sunday, Concord officials say. She was 16 years old.

The original story is below.

Two children died and a third was critically injured when a home caught fire in the middle of the night, according to the Concord Fire Department.

Identities and ages of the children have not been released.

It happened around 1 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at a single-story duplex east of Marvin Caldwell Park, city officials said in a news release. Concord is about 25 miles northeast of uptown Charlotte.

“Firefighters arrived on the scene at 1:13 a.m. to find heavy fire showing from one of the units. Crews immediately deployed attack lines to extinguish the fire and searched the home, along with the adjacent unit,” city officials said.

“Three children were located and removed from inside the burning unit. Firefighters immediately began CPR on the children until Cabarrus County EMS arrived. Sadly, two children died at the scene and a third was transported to the hospital in critical condition.”

No other occupants were found inside, and “the parents were not home at the time,” officials said.

Residents in the adjacent unit were evacuated before the firefighters arrived, officials said. Investigators did report any suffered injuries.

The fire was brought under control around 1:30 a.m., before it could spread to the home next door, officials said. However, that unit “sustained heat and water damage.”

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire. The duplex is owned by the Concord Housing Administration, which has a nearby office.

The American Red Cross is helping the displaced residents find emergency housing, officials said.

This story was originally published August 20, 2023 at 7:25 AM.