The fire started in the kitchen of the seventh-floor apartment in the Butler Houses on Webster Avenue around 1:20 p.m., with witnesses reporting that the children were hanging out the window calling for help.
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Their parents were initially questioned, but it was then revealed that they had left the children in the care of a 15-year-old babysitter who had left the apartment briefly for cooking ingredients.
The children, girls ages 3, 4 and 7 and boys ages 8 and 10, were treated for smoke inhalation but were not seriously hurt.
They were released into the custody of their parents, who returned home after the fire.
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The 15-year-old babysitter received a juvenile report for endangering the welfare of a child and was released into the custody of her guardian.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it appears to have been a stove fire.
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