POLK TOWNSHIP, Pa. — State police say a house fire that killed a middle school teacher and the four grandchildren she was watching was accidental.
Investigators told WNEP the fire appeared to start in the fireplace before killing Rosemarie LaBarre and her four grandchildren, ages 2 to 7.
In a news release, state police said they were called to the fire just before midnight on Thursday, Feb. 10, and found the five members of the family inside.
LaBarre taught family and consumer sciences for the Bethlehem Area School District, Joseph Roy, the district’s superintendent, told The Express-Times. “It is just a brutal tragedy. It was a shock.”
The Pleasant Valley School District confirmed to WFMZ that two of the children who were killed in the fire were elementary homeschool students. Counselors were made available to the community.
A friend of the family, Jessica McCormic, set up an online fundraiser for the family, which identified the children killed as Kathryn, Kaleb, Kristian and Kasper Ribiera. In six days, more than 1,500 people had donated $124,000.
The children’s mother, Markie Ribera, is a children’s ministry director at House of the Rock Church, which has planned a service for the family, The Express-Times reported.
Posted by KidzRock Children's Ministry on Tuesday, February 15, 2022
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