Nine feared dead, including 8 children, in fire in Kentucky

Nine people died early Thursday, January 30, when fire tore through a house in Kentucky, authorities said.

By Elisha Fieldstadt, writer, NBC News

A mother and eight children died when a fire ignited by an electric heater shattered a Kentucky home on Thursday morning, authorities said.

Nine years of an 11-member family were found dead in the fire that broke out in a home Muhlenberg County in the middle of the night, said Trooper Stuart Recke, Kentucky State police public affairs officer.

Two parents and their nine children lived in an apartment house, Recke said.

On Thursday afternoon, Kentucky State police identified the mother as Larae Watson, 35, and murdered eight children: Madison, 15; Kaitlyn, 14; Morgan, 13; Emily, 9; Samuel, 8; Raegan, 6; Mark, 4 and Nathaniel, 4.

The father and another child escaped from the fire and were transferred to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville about 120 kilometers away for treatment, Recke said.

Leslie Hill, a spokesman for the Vanderbilt Medical Center, said 11, Chad Watson, 36 and Kylie Watson, both were in critical but stable condition.

The researchers determined that a baseboard heater electric on a combustible material accidentally is very close to the source of heat, more than 12 hours after the fire, Recke said.

The temperature in the Muhlenberg County dropped to 1 degree at night, while the region is accustomed to temperatures of 35 degrees in January, according to Weatherbase.com.

"Normally don't have time," said Laura Bennett, who lives two doors from the devastated House. "They say that when trying to put out the fire, the water was turning to ice," he added.

Bennett said that the House had no more than three bedrooms and eleven members of the family were "stacked" in the limited space.

Harold McElvain, former Muhlenberg County Sheriff who lives across the street, said the family was "a nice young family."

"Everyone loved the children," said McElvain.

Timothy D. Easley / AP

The members of the office of the Kentucky State Fire Marshall look over the remains of a fire in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Thursday, January 30, 2014.

Bennett said that Samuel was playing at home on Wednesday night with her 8-year-old daughter.

"He went home, and then 10 hours later it's gone."

A neighbor called firefighters around 2 in the morning of Thursday, Recke said, adding that firefighters have reported the House was "totally engulfed" when arriving minutes later.

Teams of extinguish the fire within an hour, Recke said. Still, "as I am faced with the House, the right side of the House is basically," he added.

Recke said that no other property was damaged in the neighborhood, which is about 150 miles southwest of Louisville.

The Senator Mitch McConnell, R - KY, expressed its condolences to the family and community from the floor of the Senate on Thursday afternoon. "The entire community stands beside the Muhlenberg County now and we do our utmost to help you recover from this terrible loss."

They feared that nine people, including eight children, died after a fire ripped through a home in Greenville, Kentucky. Reports from NBC News French Kuo.

This story was originally posted at Thu 30 January 2014 4:24 PM EST