Black Kid on Fire in Store Funny
Father of four boys who died in Manitoba fire came home to burning house but couldn't stop tragedy
'[Jake] tried to get them out. He was going through the window but he couldn't wake them. The smoke and flames blew him right down,' the grandmother said
KANE, Man. — The day after the fire that killed four boys, almost nothing remained of the two-storey house that was once home to two parents and their eight children.
All that could be seen Wednesday from the nearest rural highway was charred rubble and smoke, a fire truck, heavy equipment, a shed and a grove of pine trees that had been left untouched by the flames.
Only hours before, the scene at this normally quiet farmhouse, located about an hour southwest of Winnipeg, had been quite different.
Fire officials said Jake Froese, the children's father, arrived home from work with his eldest son, Steven, just after midnight. They found smoke streaming from the windows and called for emergency help.
About 20 volunteer fighters from nearby communities rushed to the property near Kane, Man., soon afterward, but the building was engulfed in flames and too hot to enter.
"They went into a defensive strategy and they could not make entrance into the house, due to heavy smoke and fire conditions," said Bernard Schellenberg, the local fire chief.
The children of Doralee Eberhardt and Jake Froese were between the ages of two and 18, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.
The three youngest were able to flee the flames with their mother. Four boys, aged nine to 15, were sleeping on the upper floor and were unable to escape in time.
Officials have confirmed Bobby, Timmy, Danny and Henry Froese died in the blaze.
Their parents are in hospital recovering from smoke inhalation; the remaining three children — two girls and a toddler boy — are staying with a neighbour.
"My son played basketball with one of their kids," said one neighbour. "It's a tragedy. We're praying for them."
Beverley Eberhardt, Ms. Eberhardt's mother, said Jake and Steven Froese had been working the late shift at a local manufacturing plant. By the time they arrived at the house, the fire had taken hold and flames were shooting out of the windows.
Jake Froese tried to climb into the house, using a ladder, but was beaten back by the heat and smoke.
"[Jake] tried to get them out. He was going through the window but he couldn't wake them. The smoke and flames blew him right down," the grandmother said.
Ms. Eberhardt said the father remained in hospital and she did not know how he was doing.
Doralee appeared to be better physical shape, she said, adding, "But mentally she isn't good."
As in many rural areas, the district relies on volunteers to fight fires.
"The home is destroyed and the family is obviously devastated," said Ralph Groening, the reeve of nearby Morris, who added the children went to school in nearby Lowe Farm.
Grief counsellors have been brought in to help students at the tight-knit school.
Mr. Groening described the Froese home as "a 70- to 80-year-old farmhouse. Regionally, it is now identified here as a local rural residential property. The residents worked in the local community, so it's not a farm."
He added this is one of the worst tragedies his community has ever witnessed.
There is no suspicion of foul play. Mr. Groening said the fire chief is still looking into the cause, but expects it may have been an electrical accident. Temperatures were as low as -27C Wednesday night.
National Post, with files from The Canadian Press
Source: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/father-of-four-boys-who-died-in-manitoba-fire-arrived-home-to-burning-house-but-could-not-stop-tragedy
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