Fire Kills 5 Children, 2 Adults During Sleepover

A fire killed 5 children and 2 adults in southeastern Kentucky on Saturday when the blaze broke out during a sleepover for one of the children killed.

Police said the fire started just before 10 am at a home in the Knox County community of Gray, which is located about halfway between Knoxville and Lexington. While state police have not yet determined the cause of the fire, they said they did not suspect that foul play was involved. Arson investigators were at the scene of the blaze on Saturday.

Family members identified the 5 children and 2 adults killed in the fire as Jesse Disney and his girlfriend Nina Asher, who was reportedly a few months pregnant at the time of her death. Also killed in the fire were Asher’s 3 children — 3-year-old Will, 2-year-old Caden and 10-month old Abigail. The other children who died were neighbors who were sleeping over.

The 5 children and 2 adults killed in the fire were found in the ranch-style home after the blaze was put out at about 12:30 pm. Their remains were sent to Frankfort, Kentucky, for autopsies, which authorities said would take place on Tuesday.

This wasn’t the only tragic fire to strike the region. On January 9, a father and his 4 children were killed in an early morning fire in Pike County, Kentucky, about 2 1/2 hours east of Saturday’s fire. The family had been sleeping near an electronic space heater that likely started the fire, authorities said.

Another fire in Oklahoma left a mother and her 4 children dead back in December. The fire broke out in the pre-dawn hours the day after Christmas, tearing through the two-story, wood frame house. Police said they did not suspect foul play in this fire either.

Police in Kentucky said the fire that killed 5 adults and 2 children was reported to 911 at 9:57 am, and firefighters remained on the scene putting out the blaze all the way until 1 pm.