Investigators are still looking for the cause of a fire last night that killed an eight-year-old girl in a parked R-V in Council Bluffs. Fire Chief Alan Byers says the first unit that arrived on the scene tried to reach the child. “There was family members and several other individuals there that were saying they thought the eight-year-old female was inside,” says Chief Byers.
“The first crew in there, within five minutes, were inside and shortly there after, discovered the victim.” She’s identified as Makala Prudhome. Family members say the girl would read or watch TV in the R-V while her stepfather worked at his repair and storage company nearby.
Chief Byers says they haven’t yet determined what sparked the fire. He says they’ll try to load the gutted R-V onto a trailer and pull it to a shop and get it indoors so they can look at it more closely. The girl’s mother reportedly found smoke pouring from the R-V when she arrived to pick up the girl last night.
By Karla James