A volunteer firefighter is recovering from burns sustained during a tragic Oklahoma house fire that claimed the lives of his wife and two young children.
Kevin Fraley, 29, suffered second- and third-degree burns on 18 percent of his body and is hospitalized in Tulsa due to the fire around 3am Tuesday, News Oklahoma reports.
His newlywed wife Tiffany Fraley, 21, and their children Rayden, 2, and Mia, 1, died in the fire at their home in Porum, about one-and-a-half hours outside of Tulsa.
A house fire early Tuesday in Porum, Oklahoma claimed the lives of Tiffany Fraley, 21, and her two children Rayden, 2, and Mia, 1. Her husband and the children’s father, 29-year-old Kevin, survived but suffered second- and third-degree burns on 18 percent of his body. Pictured are Tiffany and Kevin
Kevin, a volunteer firefighter, had tried to save his family, his father said. Firefighters say the believe the fire started in the bedroom of the children (pictured)
Kevin had tried to save the family, his father Ervin, who had been next-door neighbors with the family, told the Muskogee Phoenix.
Ervin added that Kevin and Tiffany had only been married in December.
‘I can’t imagine what he’s going to go through as a parent,’ Ervin told the Phoenix. ‘It’s not soaked in what he has lost.’
Firefighters told local media outlets that they are investigating what caused the trailer-house to go up in flames but believe a space heater used to warm the home amid unusually frigid temperatures might have been to blame.
They also said they believe the fire began in the children’s bedroom, which is corroborated by Ervin’s account.
Ervin said he awoke to Kevin pounding on his door frantically yelling about how his son had been screaming and that the child’s bed was on fire.
‘I can’t imagine what he’s going to go through as a parent,’ Kevin’s father said. ‘It’s not soaked in what he has lost.’ Pictured is Tiffany and one of the children who perished
The nighttime low in the town was 12 degrees Fahrenheit the night of the fire, according to Accuweather. The average low at this time of year is 31 degrees.
The Porum Fire Department’s Facebook account notes that a fund has been set up for Kevin and that donations can be made at Armstrong Bank.
The tragedy comes after three children perished in another Oklahoma house fire on New Year’s Day.
Mayley Jean Redbird, who was just 22 months old, 3-year-old Gunner Ray Redbird and 4-year-old Amylah Dawn Redbird died when their bedroom went up in smoke, at the family’s El Reno, two-and-a-half hours from Porum.
