A 3-year-old is dead and six of his siblings were taken to hospital after a fire ripped through their Six Nations home Friday.
The toddler, who has been identified as Tate Bomberry by a family member, was trapped inside.
When fire crews arrived at the home on Fourth Line Road just after 11:30 a.m. heavy flames and smoke on the first floor made it difficult to get to the upper level.
“Some passersbys were able to assist in getting out some children prior to our arrival but there was confirmation that one child was trapped in the second floor bedroom,” says Six Nations Fire Chief Matthew Miller.
Tate was found unconscious underneath a bed. Miller carried the toddler out of the burning building to paramedics who began resuscitation efforts. He was then transported to West Haldimand General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Six other children, all of them siblings ranging in age from 3-weeks-old to 9-years-old, were also taken to hospital. The two youngest are receiving medical treatment at Sick Kids hospital in Toronto.
Family member Debbra Montour says she rushed to the home when she heard about the fire.
“Everything was chaos… cops, police, ambulance.”
She says the children’s parents are heartbroken. “The dad was at work and we had to call him home to this. [Mom] Sherri, I don’t know. She’s just devastated. She’s broken.”
The community is coming together to help the Bomberry family.
Donations of clothing, toiletries, and houseware items are being accepted at several locations in Six Nations and money is being collected online.
“They barely have the clothes they walked out with,” says Montour. “Six Nations has been very generous and helpful. We are just staying, doing what we can.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
