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Fire Claims Lives Of 2 Adults, 6 Children In Charleston, W. Va.

CHARLESTON, W. Va. (KDKA) -- A community is in mourning after a raging house fire claimed the lives of eight people, including six children, in Charleston, W. Va.

It took only four minutes for the first fire crews to arrive at the Arlington Avenue home in Charleston's West Side Saturday morning. But it was already too late as two adults and six children were trapped inside by intense flames and smoke.

A recent home video shows the children playing outside the home with their dog. The fire happened after another celebration on Friday.

One of the adults, 26-year-old Alisha Carter-Camp, was celebrating her birthday. She would have been 26 today.

The mayor held a news conference about the tragedy Saturday afternoon.

"By the time I got there, there were still two dead bodies in there, one was an adult male and one was a little baby, and it's a pretty chilling sight to see," said Mayor Danny Jones.

Investigators say there was only one smoke detector in the rented home and it was mounted incorrectly.

A city inspection had been scheduled for February, but when inspectors got there, no adults were present.

"We do not have any reason to believe this was arson," said Mayor Jones. "We believe the house, it's a two-story house, we believe it started in the front of the bottom floor."

The family was reportedly planning to move to Pittsburgh in just a few months.

The eldest child was 8, and the youngest was just 18-months.

A 7-year-old boy survived and is on life-support at a Charleston hospital.

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