'Some in critical condition' after St. Paul house fire leaves woman, her 6 children unresponsive

A house fire in St. Paul early Wednesday sent six children and their mother to the hospital with severe injuries to some of them, officials said.

The Fire Department was alerted about 1:30 a.m. to the blaze in the small house in the 1200 block of N. Arkwright Street and arrived in less than 3½ minutes, said Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso.

The flames were quickly doused, and fire crews found the children and the woman inside were all unresponsive, Mokosso said.

"The occupants were rescued from the structure and brought to the exterior of the home," Mokosso said in a statement.

One firefighter raced into the home three times and rescued an occupant with each entry, the deputy chief said.

The condition of some of the occupants required immediate life-saving measures from Fire Department paramedics, the statement continued.

"All seven occupants were transported to a local hospital, some in critical condition," Mokosso's statement added.

Two of the seven initially taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul were taken to a different medical facility for reasons the deputy chief said did not specify.

The father, Pa Cheng Vang, confirmed they were his wife and children. Mokosso did not disclose their identities or ages.

"Our family experienced a devastating fire Wednesday morning at our home," read a statement released by Regions Hospital on behalf of Vang. "We want to thank the St. Paul Fire Department and other first responders for their selfless and brave efforts."

Neighbors living near the home of the injured say they are a nice, quiet family who often play with their kids in the front yard. That yard, adorned with a pink princess tent and the occasional Tonka truck toy, now bears scorched furniture and glass shards from broken windows.

Susan Sellers woke to screams from her granddaughter who alerted her to the blaze. They saw black and gray smoke billow from the home's doors and windows. Sellers' granddaughter rushed inside the burning home to search for the residents, some of whom she regularly plays with, before firefighters arrived and began bringing the injured outside.

She and Sellers then watched from their doorstep as firefighters performed CPR on children as young as 6 months old.

"One baby was burnt really bad," Sellers said. "I was crying all night. They're very nice people."

Tamara, who lives with Sellers and declined to share her full name, said she tried to enter the home to help as well.

"As I was going into the front, the front door swung open and that's when [the firefighter] brought the first baby out. Her body was just lifeless," Tamara said. "That's just traumatizing to see kids like that, so many kids. They're carrying baby after baby after baby."

Officials have yet to make a preliminary determination about the cause of the fire, but investigators said they do not believe the blaze's origin is suspicious.