Death toll rises to 6 — a mother and 5 children — in Oregon house fire

Reporting from Portland, Ore. —  A woman and her 13-year-old son died at a Portland hospital Thursday afternoon after they were critically burned in a rural Oregon house fire that killed four others, authorities said.

Tabitha Howell, 38, and her son Andrew Hall-Young died within an hour of each other, said Erin Patrick with the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s Office. Patrick said both died from injuries sustained in the blaze early Wednesday that also killed four children, ages 4 to 13.

James Howell, 39, was listed in critical condition in the burn center, a spokeswoman for Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland, Julie Reed, confirmed Thursday.

Also killed were Gwendolyn “Gracie” Howell, 4; Haley Maher, 7; Isaiah Young, 10 and Nicholas Lowe, 13. Nicholas Lowe was a foster child, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Dwes Hutson.

Tabitha Howell was the mother of the other children and was married to James Howell. Howell is the father of the youngest victim and the stepfather of three victims.

The fire started with a portable space heater that was being used after a fireplace malfunctioned, Fire Protection District Chief Rich Holloway said Thursday in a post on the district’s Facebook page.

Combustible materials placed too close to the heater ignited and started the blaze in the tiny timber town of Riddle, Holloway said.

Holloway did not immediately return calls but City Manager Kathy Wilson confirmed the authenticity of the Facebook post in a phone interview.

The fire devastated the tiny town with a population of fewer than 1,000 people. Riddle is about 200 miles south of Portland.

A component of the fireplace that forces heated air back into the home malfunctioned several days before the blaze and the family was using the heater until they could get it repaired, Holloway wrote.

“All the burn pattern indicators, witness statements and the statement from the father on first arrival, all collaborate,” he said.

Some members of the all-volunteer fire department knew the family, Wilson said.

“In a small town like this, everyone knows each other, and this has been devastating,” she said. “It is just such a tragedy. It’s something we’ve never seen before. It has affected everyone.”

Community members held a candlelight vigil at a church late Wednesday that attracted more than 300 people.

Grief counselors were on hand at South Umpqua School District schools, which some of the children attended, said Superintendent Tim Porter. The district has just 1,450 students in all grades, he said.

Family members released a statement through Legacy Emanuel that declined interview requests.

“The community has been so generous in their response to our needs with prayer and offers of support, and we are very grateful,” the statement read. “At this time, we are requesting continued prayers and your respect for our privacy, as we are grieving our loss.”

An aunt of the children said in a phone interview that her nieces and nephews were “always just so kind and outgoing and just so full of joy.”

Heather Hendrick, who is married to Tabitha Howell’s stepbrother, said she last saw the family at a post-Christmas holiday dinner. Her son and Isaiah were born just 12 hours apart and shared a special bond, she said.

At the dinner, they wrestled and horsed around on the floor, she said.

“They have always been just so kind and generous and outgoing and loving toward us,” she said of the family.

Tabitha Howell was a Navy veteran who worked at a day-care center with her mother, said Hendrick, of Roseburg, Ore.

She was also studying at the Revivalist School of Ministry doing religious course work offered by a local Pentecostal church, Hendrick said.

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