Space heater fire kills 9-year-old boy, seriously injures 3 family members near Fayetteville

A boy is dead and three other people are hospitalized with serious injuries after a mobile home fire in Cumberland County near Fayetteville.

A family member said Thomas Miller died in the Tuesday morning fire. He was 9.

Authorities flew the boy’s father to the burn center in Chapel Hill, according to his uncle, Willliam Knight.

Knight said said the boy’s mother is receiving treatment in Chapel Hill and the boy’s 16-year-old sister is at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville.

“The 16-year-old blames herself for the accident that occurred,” Knight said. “She feels like …  she’s the one that plugged the heater in. She feels like she’s responsible for the fire.”

Knight insisted that no one is to blame for the fire.

At 12:04 a.m. Tuesday, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office responded to a structure fire at the 2500 block of Dasher Lane. Four people were in the home at the time of the fire. One child was pronounced dead at the scene. Another child and two adults were taken to a medical facility for treatment.

Officials said a space heater caused the electrical fire. The cause of the fire has been ruled accidental with no signs of foul play.

This investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Fire Investigator Senior Sergeant T. Whitman at 910-321-6786. If someone wishes to report crimes anonymously, please contact the Fayetteville/Cumberland County CrimeStoppers at 910-483-8477 or fay-nccrimestoppers.org.