4 Killed in Ohio House Fire

PORTSMOUTH -- A young mother and her three daughters were killed and three others were critically injured in an early-morning house fire in Portsmouth Friday.

The Portsmouth Fire Department identified the dead as Lisa Rose, 22; Aleia Lynn Rose, 3; Annabelle Rose, 2; and Allison Rose, 11 months. All were pronounced dead at the scene.

Injured in the fire were Albert Moore, age unknown; Ruth Moore, 67, and Clarence "Jim" McWilliams, 75. All three were transported to Ohio State University Medical Center, where they were listed in critical condition, the fire department said.

The Moores are the grandparents of Lisa Rose, and McWilliams is Ruth Moore's brother, Portsmouth Assistant Fire Chief Randy Duncan said.

The blaze was reported about 1:40 a.m. in the two-story wood frame house at 1215 McConnell Ave., just off of U.S. 52. Flames were leaping from the doors and windows of the structure by the time firefighters arrived, Duncan said.

The three survivors of the blaze were rescued from the burning home by a passerby, who pulled them from a room on the first floor prior to the fire department's arrival, Duncan said. He said he did not have any information on the rescuer.

The bodies of Lisa and Allison Rose were found on the second floor, while the bodies of the other two children were located in the vicinity of the stairs.

Duncan said the fire was the worst Portsmouth had seen in "quite some time" in terms of injury and loss of life.

Firefighters found no evidence that the home was equipped with smoke detectors, Duncan said. Portsmouth has an ordinance requiring all rental units to be equipped with smoke detectors, which the owner of the house may have been in violation of, he said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the fire department and by the Ohio Fire Marshal's Office.

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