Background: The aftermath of a house fire on North Colony Road in Columbus County, North Carolina (Columbus County News/WNCN/YouTube). Inset: Reagan Powers (Columbus County Sheriff”s Office).
A North Carolina mother has been charged after four of her young daughters were killed in a house fire and two others were forced to escape.
Reagan Powers, 28, stands charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter and negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, court records show. The fire erupted on Aug. 30 off a small road in rural North Carolina.
The Columbus County Sheriff’s Office responded to the home on North Colony Road after receiving a report of a structure fire “with entrapments.” Deputies were “advised that a female caller stated her residence was on fire and that four children remained inside,” the law enforcement agency said days later.
The first deputy arrived nine minutes after the call – but by that time, “the residence was fully engulfed in flames.” The fire was so severe, authorities noted, that “it was not possible to make a safe entry into the home.”
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Four girls died in the fire. They were 2, 4, 6, and 7 years old, Raleigh CBS affiliate WNCN reported. Two 11-year-old girls were able to escape.
Arrest warrants for Powers said she left the younger children in the care of an 11-year-old girl while she herself left the house. It is unclear where she went.
“Our community is facing an unimaginable tragedy,” Columbus County Sheriff Bill Rogers and Fire Marshal Shannon Blackman said in a joint statement on Sept. 2. “We ask that everyone join together in support of the family and loved ones affected by this devastating loss.”
The fire is being investigated by several agencies, including the Columbus County Fire Marshal’s Office, the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of the State Fire Marshal, and the SBI. As of Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said the cause of the fire remained undetermined.
“During an extensive scene examination and investigative efforts, no conclusive source of ignition has been identified,” the agency said. “However, investigators have found no evidence to suggest that the fire was started intentionally.”
Powers was booked into the Columbus County Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon on a $400,000 bond. She reportedly bonded out not long after. She was scheduled to appear in court on Thursday at 3 p.m.
