Nearly a year after a South Bend house fire killed six children, officials say they’ve finished their investigation and they don’t know the cause.
Their photos have been made into posters that say “Smith 6,” and they stand on the lot at 222 LaPorte Avenue where their house was. Shortly after 6 p.m. on January 26, fire quickly engulfed the home. Their father, 67-year-old David Smith, escaped unharmed.
At a press conference Wednesday in South Bend, Indiana State Fire Marshal Steve Jones showed surveillance video from a church across the street. It shows Smith jumping from a second floor window and then going to the front door but not entering.
Jones announced that after thousands of investigation hours, officials can only say that the fire started in the family or dining room. He said they don’t know how, and they won’t release a report.
Jones said smoke detectors were found in the debris but investigators can’t tell if they were working. He said Smith claims not to have heard one.
Fire Chief Carl Buchanon said coping with the children’s deaths still haunts the firefighters who responded that night. He urged people to do two things: check their detectors and make sure children understand what to do in a fire.
"So I am appealing to the public," Buchanon said. "If you have not checked your smoke alarm and if you believe that it may work or may not work, find out for sure if it does before it's too late."