Baby Boy Dies In Residential Fire Early Thursday: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A baby boy was killed in an early Thursday morning residential fire in Bradenton, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Around 1:30 a.m., deputies were responding to another call when they heard screaming down the street. They ran to 4307 9th Street East to find a quadplex home on fire and learned that an 11-month-old boy was unaccounted for, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies immediately ran into the burning building. When they got to the top of the stairs, they saw the second floor was completely engulfed in flames and the roof was starting to collapse, MCSO said.

Deputies evacuated the remaining families within the quadplex as multiple fire rescue units responded to the blaze, the sheriff’s office said. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters found the baby dead on the second floor.

A 14-year-old girl told deputies that she woke up to find the upstairs apartment where she was staying on fire. Seven people, including two children, were able to escape the burning apartment, deputies said.

Attempts to retrieve the 11-month-old boy were unsuccessful, though. One adult family member suffered burns while trying to go back into the building to save the child, the sheriff’s office said.

The state fire marshal is investigating how the fire started. MCSO detectives are conducting a death investigation.