So Sad, terrible.

I just read that on MSNBC. Six girls, ranging in age from 11 to 7 months, and one 7-year-old boy. Only a 3-year-old survived. It's unimaginable.

Such tragedy! How awful for them..sometimes tragedy happens and there is no easy explaination of why and how. I cannot even begin to imagine the parents heart break right now. They really need everyones prayers.

First I heard of this, sending prayers.

I don't no how one survives after a tragedy like that. I can't even imagine.

The media makes me sick. I was reading about that this morning. One of the news sites had a headline that said "Seven children die in fire while parents out". Then, of course, in the body of the story it says that the mother was in the barn milking cows and the father was in his delivery truck. How about some sensationalism!

I don't know the whole story, but wonder about this:
The father picked up milk and then parked the truck about a mile from home before nodding off, state police Trooper Tom Pinkerton said.

I wonder why he didn't just come home to sleep? The wife knew where he was (she ran to tell him), so I guess he did this every day?

I do agree it is a terrible, terrible tragedy. I can't even begin to imagine what the parents are going through right now.

This happened fairly locally, and the details are not all out yet. I'm guessing since the family was Mennonite, they had no phone. Three year old goes to the barn where mother was milking. Mother tries to get in the house but can't because of smoke and runs to one neighbor who didn't answer, and then the second one did and called it in. Then the mother ran the father's milk route and found him dozing in the truck. When they returned the house was ablaze. Some reports say the mother knew the father's route but he was five miles away. I question that. I'm in good shape and no way could I run five miles in the dark. Any way you look at it, it's a sad ,sad situation.

Actually South Central, only a few miles from where I grew up. I know that area well, and have probably passed that home many times.

Harrisburg Patriot News is saying that the family is not Mennonite. They just had a big family.

This was all over our news tonight, since it's just one county over. What adorable kids they were. They have a dairy farm, and all the Amish and Mennonite neighbors were there to milk the cows today. The aunt spoke and said how sweet these kids were and that their schedule was weird like that. The parents blame themselves. The little surviving child is precious. Her name is Leah and she is three.

I had wondered why the mom had run to find her husband first instead of trying to get to the kids -- the news reports I heard hadn't said there was too much smoke already at that point, so thanks for mentioning that, Lily.

(And I don't think that headline was "sensationalism" -- the parents WERE away from the house. Why they were out isn't the point -- does it make the incident any less terrible because they were out "legitimately"? Sometimes when writing headlines you have to short-hand it.)

Tonight's TV news piece said one of the children might've been playing with the heater. Makes me feel even worse for the parents, knowing they're probably blaming themselves.

"Seven children die in fire while parents out."

"(And I don't think that headline was "sensationalism" -- the parents WERE away from the house. Why they were out isn't the point -- does it make the incident any less terrible because they were out "legitimately"? Sometimes when writing headlines you have to short-hand it.) "

Yes, headlines often must be brief, but the wording used conjures up the impression that the parents were out doing something frivolous, leaving seven young children unattended. Since it seems somewhat obvious that there wasn't enough room for a correctly informational headline, it could have said, simply, Seven children die in house fire.

My heart is breaking for these poor parents. I can't even imagine what they are going through. When my kids were small I sometimes had to be in the barn and they needed to be in bed. I hated that they were in the house alone but sometimes you can't help it.
These parents need all our prayers to help them get through this...

It is heartbreaking. Just terrible for the parents.

Regardless...the grief would be overwhelming.

There's a huge portion of today's paper 'In Memoriam' to the kids. They were all blonde fresh faced and adorable. All girls except the one boy. The mother is 7 months pregnant again. They are dairy farmers. The mother's parents live up the road and G -Ma was down earlier and the 2 and 3 year olds were watching TV because they weren't tired. They are guessing the 2 years old's blanket got on the propane heater or the gas stove which was turned on for heat. The story was messed up yesterday. Leah DID go to the barn to get her mother who tried to get in the house but had to run 1/4 miles to a neighbor who didn't answer and then further to another neighbor. Then she got in their car and drove to where her husband was delivering milk and found him sleeping in his truck which he did while the milk was being transferred. By the time they returned the firetrucks were there and the house was an inferno. Parents blame themselves, mother wants to leave but dairy farming is all they know on both sides of the family. They were hard working decent people, but I question why toddlers with blankets were allowed unsupervised in a house where a propane heater and gas stove were on.

I don't blame the parents at all. It's still a terrible thing. Saw the family's photo in our paper-beautiful looking girls (and boy).

Were there no smoke detectors??

How sad, and most likely preventable.

Definitely preventable, and no smoke detectors. Toddler children should have been supervised. I was wondering if the three year old ran to the barn in the dark to get her mother and she was okay, why couldn't the mother save the kids, but I saw the barn is quite a way from the house. The grandmother said they saw faces at the windows. And the mother is carrying a baby with a severe birth defect, it was reported today. Just a sad sad thing to have happened. The grandmother is a Mennonite. She was wearing the bonnet, so I guess the family is. They,like the Amish, often have large families.