4 children killed in house fire in Oregon

RIDDLE, Ore. (AP) -- Four children were killed in a house fire in Douglas County, Ore., on Wednesday, authorities said.

The fire broke out in the home in the 700 block of East Third Avenue in Riddle, a town about 200 miles south of Portland, at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Douglas County sheriff's deputy Dwes Hutson said the children who died in the fire ranged from 4 to 13.

Two adults and a 13-year-old boy survived and suffered critical injuries, he said. Thirty-nine-year-old James Keith Howell, 38-year-old Tabitha Annette Howell and 13-year-old Andrew Hall-Young were transported to a Portland hospital.

Killed were 4-year-old Gwendolyn Howell, 7-year-old Haley Maher, 10-year-old Isaiah Young and 13-year-old Nicholas Lowe.

Hutson says Nicholas was a foster child.

Tabitha Annette Howell was the mother of all the children.

 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.