State Fire Marshal releases report on fatal lake fire

The State Fire Marshal has released its investigation into a fire that killed four children.

The fire was just more than a month ago at the Compass Pointe Condominiums in Osage Beach.

Despite a month of investigating, there is still no official cause for the fire.

Four children between the ages of one and four died in the blaze.

The 87 page document has recollections of that night from nearly a dozen witnesses, including the man who was in the condo and was the last one to see the children alive.

Jacob Helton was in the condo when he discovered the fire outside their front door.

He told investigators when he opened the door, the flames were shooting above his head, and he ran back to get some water, but left the door open. When he turned around the fire had spread into his condo.

He lost his daughter in the blaze; she was just a year old and they had celebrated her birthday earlier in the evening.

The other three children belonged to his girlfriend’s sister.

Investigators kept going back to a plastic coffee can that held cigarette butts in the breezeway, but never drew a conclusion that the coffee can was the likely ignition point for the fire.

However, it was mentioned several times that witnesses saw the fire in the breezeway, leading them to believe that is where it possibly started.

At this point, its unclear where the investigation will go.

The report also has statements from first responders who were some of the first to pull the young victims from the fire.

The fire chief recommended they seek counseling for any possible emotional distress.