Campbell helps family who lost 2 kids in fire - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Campbell helps family who lost 2 kids in fire

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Family members and friends were by the side of a Fort Campbell soldier who was injured in an early morning house fire that killed two of his children, a Red Cross official said.

A 3-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy died after a fire spread through their three-bedroom home in base housing early Tuesday.

Their mother was injured and listed in stable condition Wednesday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, about 50 miles southeast of Fort Campbell.

The father, identified as Wayne Smallwood by soldiers who have set up an account to accept donations for the family, is being treated at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital on the base. He is a specialist with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

“I know that they were keeping his friends close to him throughout the night,” said Glenda Brown, a volunteer for the Red Cross chapter in nearby Clarksville, which is helping the family.

The only family member not injured in the blaze was an 18-month-old girl.

The names of the rest of the Smallwood family weren’t released. The military typically doesn’t identify injured soldiers or family members, even if they are injured or killed on base, said base spokeswoman Kelly Ann Tyler.

Extended family members are staying with Smallwood’s wife in Nashville and with him at the base hospital.

“We are assisting the family with foods, clothing, and also assisting with funeral expenses,” Brown said. “We are also finding lodging for family members who are coming into the area.”

Six families lived in the same two-story housing unit where the fire broke out. The other families were temporarily relocated.

The home was in Lee Village, a housing development that dates to the 1940s and is in the process of being torn down and replaced with new buildings.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Tyler said the fire was restricted to the interior of the unit.

“There is a standard that the Department of Defense adheres to when we respond to any fires on the base and there will be an investigation, but I don’t expect it to be a long, drawn-out investigation,” Tyler said.

About 10,000 family members live in housing on base, according to the most recent Fort Campbell fiscal report.

Every housing unit on the base has smoke detectors installed, but it was unclear whether the one in the Smallwood home was working, Tyler said.

Brown said the Fort Campbell community and the family’s church has responded to the needs of the families affected by the fire and is gathering donations and supplies.

“The families are really good to rally around and give support to each other,” Brown said. “I know that the family whose children were killed that they have a good church family and they are getting support through the church.”

Other soldiers from the father’s unit, Alpha Company 626BSB, have established the Smallwood Family Fund at the Bank of America in Clarksville to accept charitable donations, company clerk Erika Hardy said Wednesday.