Four children killed in Pratt house fire

Four children, ranging in ages from 4 months to 4 years, were killed in a house fire in Pratt on Thursday morning.

Reece, Timmy, River and Harley Wheatley died after being trapped in the basement of a home owned by Chris and Karla Bates of Pratt.

Their mother, Charee Wheatley, was flown to Wichita with severe burns over the left side of her body.

Three others who were in the house also survived, including Krissy Bates and her son, Benni Bates. Lindsey Eggleston, who is pregnant, was evaluated and found to be OK.

Charee Wheatley, Krissy Bates and Lindsey Eggleston are sisters.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help the family with expenses.

“We need to come together as a community and help this family in their darkest hour,” the GoFundMe page’s administrator, Sally Cookson, posted .

The deaths were confirmed by Karla Bates, mother of the three sisters and grandmother of the victims.

Pratt police Detective Jeff Ward said the fire, near Second and Austin, was reported at 9 a.m.

Danny Quint, who owns a liquor store down the street from the home, said he saw heavy, black smoke.

When he realized where it was coming from, he and another man ran to the house.

“There was a woman outside and she said there were people in the basement,” Quint said. “We ran around the house trying to get inside and kicked out a back door. But when it opened, the smoke was just so thick we couldn’t get inside.”

Ward said the cause of the fire is unknown. A state fire marshal is on scene investigating, which is standard for fires in Pratt.

Asked what agencies were called to assist in the fire fight, Ward said “all of them.”

Pratt is about 80 miles west of Wichita.

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Four children killed in Pratt house fire."