City officials on Wednesday afternoon identified the five young siblings who died in last weekend's devastating fire in Buffalo's LaSalle neighborhood.
The three girls who were pronounced dead at the scene Saturday morning on Dartmouth Avenue were: Aniyah Green, 10; Joelle Liggans, 8; and Jalissa Liggans, 7.
Denise Keith, a 4-year-old girl, and Nehemiah Robinson, a 2-year-old boy, were taken to Oishei Children's Hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries.
A 7-month-old infant was treated at Children's Hospital and was released to the care of her grandfather, Clarence Liggans. His wife, Lisa, the children's grandmother, remains at Erie County Medical Center in critical condition.
Clarence and Lisa Liggans lived in the 1½-story structure, off Bailey Avenue, with two of their adult children and six grandchildren ranging in age from 7 months to 10 years old.
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Clarence Liggans has delivered newspapers for The Buffalo News since 2013 as an independent contractor distributor.
"Clarence was contacted about the fire while delivering his Buffalo News route," Bill Stille, the company's audience vice president, and Rick Aniol, the circulation operations director, wrote in an email that informed News employees of a colleague's connection to the tragedy and provided details on how to support Liggans and his family.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo said at a news conference Tuesday.
A City Hall spokesman on Monday had said investigators determined the fire was "accidental" but did not reveal a specific cause. Officials previously had said the fire started in the home's first-floor dining room.
Renaldo did not elaborate on Tuesday.
When asked specifically what caused the fire, such as faulty wiring, he said, “It’s ruled accidental because every other cause was ruled out as of now. So the only other reason it’s still under investigation is there are a number of witnesses that still need to be interviewed and that process is still ongoing.”
Renaldo said fire investigators don't know precisely what sparked the blaze.
“We’re not 100 percent (sure) what caused the fire. We know it’s accidental because we ruled out all the other causes," he said. "But we don’t know actually what was ignited at this time yet.”
Accelerants and “things of that nature” have been ruled out, Renaldo said.
The fire commissioner went into more detail about what happened inside the home when the fire started around 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
“What I understand is the daughter of the grandmother was alerted first by the smoke detectors and she alerted the grandmother, who was asleep at the time," Renaldo said. "And together they attempted to evacuate the children that were in the home and they were unsuccessful, unfortunately. But the grandmother was able to retrieve the infant and exit the home."
Renaldo said the grandmother is in the burn unit at ECMC.
"The infant was stabilized and is with the grandfather at home," he said.
A family spokesman, Cornerstone Church Ministries Pastor Duane Price, has said that relatives of the fire victims aren't ready to speak publicly about what happened.
Price has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the family. It had collected $68,500 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Price said the church, at 410 East St., is also accepting donations of clothing, furniture and food for the survivors. Donations can be dropped off between noon and 5 p.m.
