Fire Claims North Carolina Family

A fire Saturday morning claimed the lives of a single mother and her twin children, who apparently were overcome by smoke while trying to escape.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at 7:19 a.m., said Fire Chief Danny Wilkerson. Authorities say they found the bodies of Stacy Moore, 34, and her 12-year-old twins, son Kadarius and daughter Kadijah, in the kitchen. All three died of smoke inhalation.

'There were three victims, a boy and a girl and their mother,' Wilkerson said. The fire started in the living room, perhaps caused by a malfunction in a window air-conditioning unit. The blaze is not considered suspicious, but remains under investigation.

'There was a lot of fire. ... The tree was charred outside,' Wilkerson said.

Republished with permission from The Daily Dispatch