Garfield toddler dies in fire; siblings escape

A 6-year-old boy playing with matches or a lighter apparently started the fire that killed his 2-year-old brother Saturday afternoon in Garfield, Pittsburgh police said.

'I'll talk to the district attorney's office and see if they recommend any charges to be filed, but right now we're treating it as a tragic accident,' homicide Sgt. Keith Andrews said last night.

The boys were home with two other brothers, 9 and 3, and their sister, 13, who was baby-sitting while their mother was at work, Andrews said.

A spokesman for the Allegheny County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Charles Cook.

He and his 6-year-old brother were on the third floor of their Broad Street home, and the other youngsters were on the first floor. A smoke detector went off, alerting the children downstairs to the fire, which started in the third-floor front bedroom, Andrews said.

'They attempted to go upstairs to get the baby,' Andrews said. 'The fire got too hot, and so they ran out to try to get help from neighbors. No one else was hurt.'

Firefighters needed less than 10 minutes to control the blaze, which was contained at the top of the steps to the third floor, 3rd District Battalion Chief Jim Byrnes said.

Charles Cook was found in his third-floor bedroom and was taken to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where he was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m.

A spokesman for the coroner's office said the cause of death had not been determined and that an autopsy would be performed today.

Byrnes said his department received the call at 3:42 p.m. of the fire at 5001 Broad St., near North Millvale Avenue.

Next-door neighbor Claude Moye, 63, said he was watching television and was unaware of the blaze until the fire trucks pulled up.

'I grabbed for my wallet and keys and ran outside,' Moye said.

Moye said he doesn't know the family well. He said they are friendly, and he gives the children candy. Moye said the family has lived there for about two or three years.

'I call them all 'little man,'' he said.

Moye said it was upsetting to see the little boy brought out of the house.

'When I saw them bring that baby out, I said he's either dead or passed out,' Moye said. 'It was just sad when I saw him.'

Byrnes said the fire caused $5,000 worth of damage.

Anthony Todd Carlisle can be reached at acarlisle@tribweb.com or at (412) 320-7824.