The four children were left in the house while their mother went on an errand and their father was selling food in Independence.

SILK GRASS, Stann Creek District, Wed. Dec. 18, 2019– A family in Silk Grass is devastated after a fire in their one-flat 20 X 24 timber house destroyed all their belongings and took the life of their youngest child, Isaias Ojeda, 3, who was sleeping in his bunk bed and was overlooked by a neighbor who had rushed into the house to save the children.

The neighbor apparently forgot Isaias because he had been sleeping. The neighbor tried to rush back into the house when one of the children who had been rescued told her that Isaias was still inside the house, but by that time it had become so engulfed in flames that she could not re-enter. The child’s charred remains were later found among the debris.

Isaias’ grieving mother, Efijenia Lobos, 29, said that her common-law husband, Carlos Ojeda, 45, was in Independence Village selling food, and she was at home with her children, ages one year, three years, four years, and five years, and she stepped out to do an errand.

While she was in the village doing the errand she was told that her house had been destroyed by fire, and when she rushed home she saw the remnants of her house and she was given the terrible news that her 3-year-old son had perished in the fire.

Fire investigators concluded that the fire was caused by one of the children who was playing with matches or a lighter, and lit the mattress afire.

Anthony Mortis, station supervisor at the National Fire Service, said that Lobos went out, leaving the four children unattended in the house, and the 4-year-old boy somehow managed to light the mattress on fire, which then caused the house to catch fire.

Police from the police station in Silk Grass said that on their arrival on the scene they saw the family’s F-150 pickup engulfed in flames and the 2-bedroom timber house also in flames that were burning freely.

Carlos Ojeda said that his truck was parked in the yard near the house because it needed repairs, and when the house caught fire, it was destroyed as well.

Arrangements are being made to bury little Isaias, and Carlos said that he and his wife have to begin all over from scratch, but they must remain strong so that they can carry on with their lives.

Mortis commented that lighters and matches are not toys; they are tools to start a fire, and should be held in a safe place, secure from children.

He also said that young children should not be left unattended.