ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities in Rochester say a woman has been accused of setting a house fire that killed four of her children.
Rochester Fire Chief John Caufield says Friday that Bobbie Kugler is charged with arson and four counts of manslaughter. Kugler is the mother of 14-year-old Gage Reavey, 13-year-old Greg Kugler, 12-year-old Kandee Kugler and 6-year-old Kaiden Kugler. All died in the Feb. 18 fire in their home. A 2-year-old son survived.
Authorities say Kugler was arrested Friday and will be arraigned Saturday morning. It's not known if she has a lawyer.
Kugler, and her 2-year-old son, Tyron Jackson, were rescued from the first-floor of the residence by firefighters. Family friend James Austin, 25, and two teens - Waltquaries Evans, 15, and Giovanni Delorm, 13 - jumped from second-floor windows to escape the blaze. Austin, a friend of Bobbie Kugler's, also lived at 82 Grape. The two teens were sleeping over when the fire broke out, firefighters said.
The incident started about 1 a.m. Feb. 18 with a report of a rubbish fire on Grape Street. Firefighters found clothes burning on the sidewalk in front of 82 Grape and extinguished them. They tried to reach the occupants at 82 Grape, but no one answered. They walked around the property and discovered a fire on the first floor, which quickly spread upstairs. Firefighters were five seconds away from entering second-floor windows by ladder, but were forced back by the inferno and unable to get to the children, Fire Department officials said.
Victoria E. Freile/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle