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--> --> News update: One child dead in fire Ashland Daily Tidings A 3-year-old girl has died from injuries suffered in an early morning apartment fire in Ashland, authorities said late this afternoon. Smoke detectors in the room where the child died and in adjacent living areas were not working because there were no batteries, said Ashland Fire Chief Keith Woodley. The girl, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m. at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Woodley said. No cause of death was released, but Woodley said the room occupied by the 3-year-old and a 16-month-old girl "sustained a significant amount of heat and smoke due to the confinement of the fire." The 16-month-old girl remained in serious condition at the hospital late this afternoon, according to Woodley. Ashland emergency workers responded at 7: 20 a.m. today to a report of a fire in an apartment at the Tudor Square complex in the 700 block of Terra Avenue. The fire was out when crews arrived, but three people in the apartment - two girls ages 16 months and 3, and a 25-year-old woman - were transported to RVMC in Medford for treatment. Ashland Police Chief Scott Fleuter identified the woman as Michelle Wimberly. The relationship between the woman and children, or whether she lived in the apartment, had not been established, Fleuter said earlier today. Continuing coverage in Friday's print edition Earlier story: filed 11:45 a.m., Thursday By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings One child was in critical condition and another in serious condition from injuries sustained this morning in an Ashland apartment fire, authorities said. The full extent of the injuries was not known as of 11:30 today, but according to Ashland Fire Chief Keith Woodley the children were critical and serious when loaded into ambulances on the way to Rogue Valley Medical Center. The father of the children had yet to be notified this morning, and hospital officials refused to release the names or the status of the two children. Ashland emergency workers responded at 7: 20 a.m. today to a report of a fire in an apartment at the Tudor Square complex in the 700 block of Terra Avenue, according to Woodley. The fire was out when crews arrived, but three people in the apartment - two girls ages 15 months and 3, and a 25-year-old woman - were transported to RVMC in Medford for treatment. Ashland Police Chief Scott Fleuter identified the woman as Michelle Wimberly. The relationship between the woman and children, or whether she lived in the apartment, had not been established, Fleuter said. "The smoke damage in the apartment was substantial," Woodley said, adding the children likely suffered from smoke inhalation. Neighbors who witnessed some of the events during and after the fire said they believe the woman to be the girls' mother. "I heard a woman downstairs yelling, `My baby, my baby!'" said upstairs neighbor Ike Koskela. Koskela, 23, woke up shortly after 7 a.m. to the odor of smoke. He found his kitchen dim and hazy, and was initially concerned there might be a fire in his apartment or in the walls of the complex. Another resident noted that all the fire detectors at the apartment complex had been replaced in the past week. Another neighbor, Rod Wellman, also heard the cries of distress and smelled smoke. "I went out on the porch and looked down and saw her (the woman)," Wellman said. "She was outside holding a child, walking around in circles and screaming at the top of her lungs, `My baby, my baby!'" To Wellman, the child looked like it had possibly been covered with soot or even burned. He was afraid the child was unconscious or possibly dead. "It looked completely limp," Wellman said. "I did not want to see that." While fire officials and hospital staff would not comment on the condition of the children, Woodley said they would not have been transported to the hospital if there wasn't a chance they would live. "The paramedics believed they were viable cases," Woodley said. The woman was not in the same smoke-filled room as the children, and likely suffered less severe smoke-related injuries, according to Woodley. But he could give no concrete evaluation of what her injuries might be. "She was emotionally distraught and was transported for evaluation," Woodley said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. So far there is no indication of a crime having been committed, Fleuter said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing