Update: Investigation into fatal Pratt fire continues

As the mother of four children who were killed in a house fire Thursday continued to recover in a Wichita hospital, fire investigators were busy determining the cause of the fatal blaze.

Charee Wheatley was in critical condition Thursday morning, according to hospital officials.

She was flown from her Pratt home to a hospital in Wichita for burns to the left side of her body.

Her four children, ranging in ages from 4 months to 4 years, were killed in the fire, officials said.

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

Three others who were in the house near Second and Austin 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.

On Friday morning, investigators were seen going in and out of the charred and blackened house. Austin from Second to Third streets is still closed. Yellow police tape encircled a block around the house, and officers sat on either side of the street, making sure people didn’t pass through.

However, residents slowly drove by the scene Friday morning, peeking to see the investigation unfold.

A cause of the fire has not yet been released.

The fire also damaged a house to the south of the Bates’ home. Its windows were covered up and there are two holes in its roof.

Children’s toys lay on the grass outside.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help the family with expenses. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/chfcjy-help-the-egglestonwheatley-family.

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

Pratt police Detective Jeff Ward said the fire was reported at 9 a.m.

Danny Quint, who owns a liquor store down the street from the house, 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.”

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 26, 2018 at 7:34 AM with the headline "Update: Investigation into fatal Pratt fire continues."