Community in mourning after house fire claims four lives

COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. (WCBI) – A community is in mourning after a horrifying fire claimed the lives of three French Camp Academy students, and one other woman.

The fire began Sunday night in a two-story home in a suburb of Memphis.

Three teenagers and one adult did not escape the flames by the time the Collierville Fire Department arrived.

The teens – Sharron, Joy, and Arron Naik, ages 14, 15 and 17 were killed.

A fire department spokesman said the house was engulfed in flames.

A man who lived in the home, as well as a neighbor, were trying to rescue the people trapped inside, when firefighters arrived.

CBS affiliate WREG reports the children were staying at the home of Danny and Kari Coudriet and their son Cole. They were hosting the French Camp teens, whose missionary parents were in India.

The mother, a 46-year-old woman, also died in the fire. The father and son were able to escape the flames.

“It was just frantic trying to figure out how many people were in the house, I knew there was multiple kids there”, said neighbor Scott Symons.

“It was very chaotic and, I just wish we could’ve done more, figure out where they were.”

The fire’s cause is under investigation.