Mississippi town mourns after six killed in mobile home fire

TCHULA, Miss. -- This Mississippi Delta town grieved Sunday for six children who died in a mobile home fire, and the mayor pleaded for assistance to improve housing conditions and lift the town out of dire poverty.

A memorial service was planned Sunday afternoon near the charred frame of the mobile home recently rented by Angela Williams for her family. Three of her four children and her sister's three children died from apparent smoke inhalation in the Saturday morning fire. Williams' infant daughter was hospitalized.

The trailer had no utilities; authorities said a candle used for light in the home likely caused the blaze.

Tchula, with about 2,300 residents, sits in Holmes County about 75 miles north of Jackson in the southern rim of the Mississippi Delta. The county is the poorest in the state, with a median household income of $17,031, according to the 2000 Census. Mississippi is the second-poorest state behind West Virginia.

Mayor Yvonne Brown said the unemployment rate hovers at 25 percent. At least 50 percent of the 800 homes in the town are substandard, she said.

Brown said she is appealing to the public, Mississippi's senators and President Bush to route money for housing improvements to the town.

The children were home alone when the fire started, police said.

Sharkey Ford, the town's police and fire chief, declined to say Sunday whether Williams or her sister, Carolyn, would face criminal charges.