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Updated: 8:54 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 | Posted: 6:53 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, 2013

Officals say fire was started by child playing with lighter

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Conyers fire victims
Conyers fire victims

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011013 fatal fire 2 photo
JOHN SPINK / AJC
FATALITY FIRE--January 9, 2013 Rockdale County: Family members embrace in front of the scene where their cousins died Wednesday. State fire investigators and the ATF joined Rockdale Fire & Rescue and Conyers police at a burned out home in Rockdale County early Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 to begin looking into an overnight blaze that left four young children dead. The fire happened around 11 p.m. Tuesday at a duplex on Pinedale Circle, off Irwin Bridge Road in Conyers. Four children ranging in age from 8 months to nine years old - died in the blaze. A 6-year-old boy was injured when his mother threw him from a second-floor window to escape the flames Major Mike Waters of Conyers police said early Wednesday. He said the 6-year-old’s injuries were not believed to be serious. The mother was seriously injured when she jumped from the window and transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. The injured boy was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, Waters told the AJC. The names of the victims were not immediately released. A grandmother who also lived in the home was not injured, Waters said. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

By Lauren M. Johnson

Officials say Conyers fire, that claimed the life of four children, was caused by a child playing with a lighter.

Rockdale County Fire and Rescue Chief, Daniel Morgan, announced the findings at a press conference, along with other Rockdale County officials.

The Tuesday fire, left four children, ages nine to under a year, in their beds. Their mother, Reba Glass, threw the six-year-old survivor, Darnell Junior, out a second story window and then jumped herself.  Glass suffered second and third degree burns after saving her mother and then running back in the house to try and save her children.

Morgan said, as part of the investigation, officials interviewed the three fire survivors and Darnell’s father.

“No accelerants were found in any of the samples we submitted. The investigators have also determined there were no electrical malfunctions, and all accidental causes have been illuminated,” Morgan said.

Officials say the fire started in the second story bathroom. There were no working smoke detectors in the home.

“This is a tragic event and we need to make sure this 6- year- old gets the help he needs,” Morgan concluded.

Funeral is tentatively set for January 19, if Glass is released from the Grady Memorial Hospital.

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