COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. ( WECT /Gray News) – Four young children died Saturday in an early morning house fire in a small community in southeastern North Carolina.

According to the fire marshal in Columbus County, six children - ranging in ages 2 to 12 - were home alone without adult supervision when the fire started around 2:30 a.m.

Two 12-year-olds were able to get out of the house without injuries, but a 2, 4, 6 and 7-year-old were killed in the fire.

“I could just hear them laughing and playing all the time next door,” neighbor Melissa Long said. “I could just always hear them carrying on and having a good time. So, it’ll be something that I can remember about them is hearing the laughs and playing.”

Long, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly two decades, said something of t

See Full Page