WAFB 9 News Baton Rouge, Louisiana News, Weather, SportsGrandfather mourning daughter and grandchild killed in Holden

A mother trapped inside her burning trailer home in Holden screaming for help.  In the next room, her seven-year-old daughter also trapped.  Three other children made it out.   But a family member says those screams are all they remember.  Their grandfather says flames were shooting so high, he had no choice but to watch his family die.

"A horrific thing to wake up to this morning," said State Fire Marshal Butch Browning.  "A lot of sadness."

Huddled together in the middle of the night on Tuesday, family members watched as firefighters from Livingston, Albany and Holden fought the flames that engulfed a mobile home on Hob Hodges Road.

Hours later with the sun up, flames were still flickering as smoke continued to rise.

"I had to sit here and watch them burn.  I couldn't do nothing 'bout it," said Charles Newman.  Newman says his four grandchildren, daughter and son-in-law lived next door to him.

Just before one in the morning, Newman says his son-in-law Ricky woke him up.

"He run over and beat on my wall and I jumped up see what was the matter.  He said, 'my house on fire.'"

Newman says when he came outside he saw flames shooting higher than the trees.  He says he thought everyone was out.  Until the children told him Michelle Ballard, 7, was still inside, in her bed.  One of the younger children told him, she wouldn't wake up.

In the rear of the trailer, Newman's daughter Elizabeth Ballard, 30, was screaming for help.

"She was screaming, hollering for help.  And them kids going have it on their mind for a long time...She was screaming for help and couldn't get out," Newman said.

Elizabeth was Newman's youngest child.  He says he's already buried two children, now he'll have to bury his daughter and granddaughter, knowing he couldn't save them.

"I watched them die right here."

The three children taken to the hospital - two girls and a boy, are all expected to be okay. One has burned hands, another has burns on their face.  Newman says he wants to bulldoze the remains of the trailer and put up something to block his view of that area.

The fire marshal says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.  Browning says several space heaters were in use at the time of the fire, but it's unclear if they played a role in the fire.  Browning also says there were no working smoke alarms in the home.

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