Four children die in Mason City house fire

MASON CITY, Iowa. (KTTC) – Four children have died in a house fire in Mason City Wednesday morning.

Mason City Fire Department said the fire started as a result of a power strip that was overloaded in the living room.

“The investigators were able to determine that the origin came from that power strip, but the cause of why it malfunctioned or if it was overloaded still needs to be investigated further,” Mason City Fire Department fire chief Eric Bullinger said.

Drako Mcluer, age 6, John Michael Mcluer, age 12, Odin Thor Mcluer, age 10, and Phenix Mcluer, age 3 were all pronounced dead at the hospital. Six people in total were transported to the hospital.

55-year-old John Michael Mcluer and 11-year-old Raven Mcluer were able to evacuate the home before firefighters arrived.

According to Mason City Fire Department, it was dispatched to 509 N Washington Ave. at 5:05 a.m. Wednesday for the report of a house fire.

Fire crews arrived to find fire showing from the first and second floors of the house. Firefighters began rescue operations, which resulted in multiple victims being removed from the house.

Two minor injuries to fire department personnel were reported.

The Salvation Army provided assistance to all crews on the fire scene while personnel worked in cold weather conditions. Mason City Police Department, Alliant Energy, and Mason City Operations & Maintenance personnel also assisted at the scene.

The four children were students within Mason City Community Schools.

“Mason City Community Schools has an overwhelming sense of sadness today. The four students that lost their lives were beloved and valued by their school community,” Mason City Community Schools superintendent Pat Hamilton said.

School officials say the news is a shock to the entire school system.

“Students come to school and a classmate is gone. A teacher comes to school and a student is gone,” Hamilton said.

The school is partnering with Central Rivers Education Agency who brought in counselors for crisis support.

“Our focus is on our school community cope with the shock and loss associated with this tragedy,” Hamilton said.

School staff are placing extra crisis support staff in the schools where the children attended class.

“We’ve moved counselors to other buildings to the other buildings that were affected. This tragedy affected multiple buildings within the district,” Hamilton said.

School officials are encouraging parents to reach out to their kids if they need help and to look to the school for support.

“I think the important thing is for our parents of our students to be watching for signs. They know their child better than anybody to watch for those signs and then reach out to school system for support,” Hamilton said.

A gofundme was started for the family, to donate click here.

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