Brooklyn Fire kills 7 Children by: Milan Hamilton

       Seven children in what neighbors described as an Orthodox Jewish family were killed early Saturday in a Brooklyn house fire that was apparently sparked by a hot plate meant to keep food warm over the Sabbath, New York's fire commissioner said. The four boys and three girls -- siblings ranging in age from 5 to 16 -- were in upstairs bedrooms when the unattended hot plate apparently malfunctioned in the kitchen, starting a fire that swept up from the first floor shortly after midnight in Brooklyn's south-central Midwood section, New York Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. The fire's only survivors: The victims' 45-year-old mother, Gayle Sassoon, and her 14-year-old daughter. Both jumped from second-floor widows to escape and were being treated for burns and smoke inhalation, police said. The mother was in critical condition; the status of her daughter wasn't known. The fire raced from the kitchen up a staircase and toward the bedrooms. Someone called 911 shortly after 12:20 a.m., and the firefighters arrived less than four minutes later, but the blaze was well advanced, Nigro said. Firefighters broke down the front door and knocked the flames down to the point where they could go upstairs, "but it was too late," Nigro said. "It's difficult to find one child in a room during a search. To find a house full of children that can't be revived, I'm sure this will take its toll on our members for quite some time," Nigro said. One girl was pronounced dead at the scene; the other six were sent to hospitals but died, police said.

I think this is so sad. What ultimately broke my heart was the many children that were in the house during this terrible time. My thoughts are with the mother and the daughter that are still living  and I just pray that they find peace. This could easily be an example of how the progression of technology can be damaging. While they make our lives so much more efficient, they also have armful effects and can be very dangerous.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/21/us/brooklyn-fire-children-killed/index.html