Four people, including three middle school girls, are dead after an early morning fire swept through a Park Township home Sunday.
Family members said sisters Samantha Carr, 13, and Ariel Fazer, 12, were among those killed in the fire that broke out shortly after 3 a.m. at 16545 Riley St., along with a 12-year-old friend who was visiting the girls.
Authorities expect to officially identify the sisters' friend, along with a woman who rented a room at the house, today following autopsies.
Five people escaped the fire, the cause of which was still unknown Sunday evening. Neighbors said they were alerted to the fire by two loud explosions that rocked the area.
Charity and Perry Carr, parents of the girls, got out of the house along with Angela Fazer, Ariel's twin sister; Lisa Payne, Charity Carr's sister; and a nurse, who was not identified, who cares for Payne.
"They're second-guessing everything right now," Delwyn Looman, Charity Carr's stepfather, said of the survivors. "They did everything that was humanly possible and the fire was just too strong."
Fire and police were dispatched to the scene at 3:23 a.m., and Park Township Fire Lt. Mark DeVries said the home was fully involved when his department arrived on the scene.Most of the home was destroyed by the time firefighters arrived, he said.
The bodies of the victims were found close to each other, DeVries said.
Investigators from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department and the Michigan State Police Fire Marshal are trying to determine what caused the fire. Sheriff's Detective Tom Knapp said it could take several days to learn how and where the blaze started.
"It's a very tough time for everyone," Knapp said.
Ottawa County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Crumb added that foul play is not suspected at this time.
A bouquet of flowers and yellow police tape marked the scene Sunday afternoon, with the smell of smoke lingering in the air. A scorched garage and the remains of the deck of the two-story house, located several hundred feet from the street, were visible from Riley.
Mike Hill, a 16-year-old neighbor of the Carr family, was awake when the fire started.
"There was one loud explosion at first, it was a loud boom. Then there was a second that shook the ground," Hill said. "It wasn't like an earthquake, it didn't last that long. It was kind of like thunder, a big thunder boom."
Nick Harrington, 15, who lives across the street from the leveled home, described the family as "quiet people."
"You kind of think it's impossible, but then something happens across the street," he said.
Looman said the family had been renting the home from Faith Looman, Charity Carr's mother.
Payne, who lived with the family, is physically disabled and requires medical assistance, he said. Perry Carr rescued Payne by carrying her out of the home, Looman said.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get my girls out," Perry Carr told WOOD-TV. "I tried but it was just too hot."
Looman remembered his granddaughters as vivacious and loving girls. They had been having a sleepover with a friend, the fourth victim, when the blaze broke out.
"Ariel was a very bubbly and thoughtful person. Samantha was a people person, a people-pleaser," he said. "They were your typical near-to-teenage girls."
The girls attended West Ottawa Public Schools. Superintendent Rosemary Ervine said the district will have crisis response teams consisting of school psychologists, social workers and counselors at Harbor Lights and Macatawa Bay schools today to help students and faculty deal with the loss.
"It's shocking ... This is going to be a very difficult time for everyone," Ervine said. "Our hearts and our thoughts and our prayers are with the family at this time."
Family friend Mike Wilson said a victims' fund has been established for the family at Pine Creek Christian Reformed Church, 635 Riley St., Holland 49424.
"This was a very diverse family, a very loving family," he said. "We hope that those who did not survive did not suffer."
