3 children, father killed in fire at Maine home

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Posted: 11/10/2012
Last Updated: 192 days ago

ORRINGTON, Maine - Authorities say three children and their father died in a house fire in Maine.

Steve McCausland of the Maine Public Safety Department says the mother of the children who died in the fire Saturday morning escaped the blaze and was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

State police identified the victims as 30-year-old Benjamin Johnson III, and the couple's three children: 9-year-old Ben, 8-year-old Leslie and 4-year-old Ryan.

Their mother, 31-year-old Christine Johnson, escaped the predawn fire Saturday and suffered smoke inhalation.

The home is in a rural area of Orrington, which has about 3,900 residents and serves as a bedroom community to Bangor six miles to the north. Firefighting crews from Bangor and four other towns were called in and extinguished the fire in about an hour.

The fire started around 2:30 a.m. Saturday and was reported to authorities by neighbors. The state fire marshal's office is investigating.