New 911 calls: As deadly fire raged, teen tried to help kids killed in Concord home
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Deadly house fire kills 3 siblings
The fire broke out overnight Aug. 20, killing all three children inside the home in Concord, N.C.
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As smoke fumed from windows, Cristiano Gray didn’t think much before rushing into the flaming duplex across street.
Smoke fogged his eyes and filled his lungs as the 17-year-old shouted into the home.
Nobody responded.
The fire broke out around 1 a.m. on Aug. 20.
Three siblings — Daniella Kueviakoe, 16, and Emmanuelle Kueviakoe, 11, and 15-year-old Stephen Kueviakoe — had already gone into cardiac arrest when first responders arrived, officials later said.
Copies of 911 calls obtained by The Charlotte Observer fill in details about what happened after Gray stumbled out of the charred door and before first responders arrived at the unit.
Concord house fire 911 calls
“We need fire trucks, ambulances and police,” Gray, who had just got off his Saturday night shift at Sonic, told a dispatcher. “It’s a house fire and it’s spreading quick.”
When the dispatcher asked if anyone was in the home, Gray said he wasn’t sure.
“I tried going in, but the smoke was too deep, thick. It’s spreading bad... this is gonna be something big,” he said. “Somebody lives here, there’s stuff in there... people live here, but nobody’s responding right now.”
Neighbors and residents of the historically Black Logan community called in as the Chapman Homes unit silently flamed.
“There’s a fire next door,” a woman told a dispatcher after calling 911. She said she saw flames sprouting from the unit.
“Come on!” a child screams in the background.
When firefighters and paramedics arrived, they tried to resuscitate each child. Only Daniella, the eldest sister, got a pulse back. She later died at the hospital.
The fire displaced not only their mother, who briefly spoke at a vigil Friday, but also her neighbors.
The eerie quiet of August 20 has since prompted a chorus of questions about why neighbors didn’t hear smoke detectors and why the city-owned bridge near the home hasn’t been repaired after more than a year of being closed.
Chapman Homes is owned and managed by the city’s housing authority as one of its four local public housing communities.
This story was originally published August 31, 2023 at 1:07 PM.
