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Mother, 4 children die in Okla. fire

OKLAHOMA CITY — A fire that ripped through a home in Oklahoma City before dawn Wednesday killed a woman and her four children, fire and police officials said.

Firefighters who arrived about 6:30 a.m. found the bodies of Jeanine Bonnet, 28, and her children inside the two-story wood-frame home, Fire Department Major Tammy McKinney said. They found a man, Brian Poletto, 39, outside the burning house. He remained in critical condition at a local hospital later Wednesday with second- and third-degree burns to his back and arms, McKinney said.

''When we got on scene, we had reports that there were children inside,'' McKinney said. ''The fire was so intense that we could not make entry and had to knock the fire down before we could make entry. That's when we found the bodies.''

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Police Sergeant Gary Knight identified the children as Kara Leon, 3; Matthew Zackary Leon, 5; Samantha Leon, 7; and Natalie Leon, 8.

Knight said there did not appear to be anything suspicious about the fire, which he called a tragedy, although investigators were still trying to determine a cause.

''It's never a good time, but the day after Christmas, it's horrible,'' Knight said.

The bodies were sent to the medical examiner's office in Oklahoma City for autopsies, according to McKinney.

Associated Press