The incident occurred on Friday morning at a home on Bostic Sunshine Highway in Rutherford County, North Carolina, according to a statement released by Fire Marshal Frankie Hamrick. Two toddlers, 2-year-old Nasir and 3-year-old Niya, were left at the residence while their grandfather drove their mother, Jontae Littlejohn, to work, which was only 10 to 12 minutes away, according to WYFF.
At about 10 a.m. ET, someone passing by the home called in to report a fire. By the time first responders arrived, they reported flames visible outside of the house and heavy smoke," with a neighbor later telling WSPA that there was “smoke everywhere.”
By then, the grandfather had returned to the home and told fire personnel that his grandchildren were still inside, trapped in a bedroom. Crew members were able to locate them near the back of the residence and provided CPR.
The children were rushed to Atrium Health Cleveland in Shelby, North Carolina, in neighboring Cleveland County, where they were pronounced dead.
“They had the biggest hearts, the cutest smiles,” Amber Suttle, a friend of the family, told WSPA. “They were just the best kids. We’re heartbroken at this point.”
“The fire is under investigation by the Rutherford County Fire Marshal’s Office and the SBI (Fire Investigation Unit),” an official statement provided to Newsweek by the fire marshal’s office read. “The origin of the fire is in the living room in the area of the couch. At this time the fire is still under investigation.”
“I couldn’t believe it, all I could say was no and scream,” Littlejohn said in an interview about the loss of her children. “I couldn’t even explain or describe the feeling that I got to have when I had been there and got to sit with them and say my final goodbyes and I got to hold my kids hands for a good amount of time and I’m glad I did get that moment to do that.”
A strikingly similar house fire occurred in Rutherford County almost exactly one year before Friday’s. According to Hamrick, a fire broke out at a Davis Lake Road residence about 1 p.m. ET on February 1, 2022. The blaze resulted in one fatality, with the victim pronounced dead at the scene, and left another victim with severe burns. The latter victim was airlifted to nearby Mission Hospital.
Like Friday’s fire, last year’s was believed to have started in the living room, with initial reports of the residents’ oxygen tanks causing explosions dismissed by Hamrick.
Updated 01/22/2023, 6:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from the fire marshal and further comments from Jontae Littlejohn.
