Siblings, ages 1 and 3, killed in apartment fire

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO/Gray News) - Two young children died after a fire tore through a unit at a Kentucky apartment building.

The fire started in the early morning on March 12 at a Bowling Green apartment, the fire department said.

The two children who died were identified by family members as 3-year-old Dominic and his 1-year-old sister, Aura.

The victims’ aunt, Destaney Handy, said the children’s mother woke to the smell of smoke and discovered the apartment was on fire.

“My sister, when I was talking to her yesterday, she just said she woke up from the smell of smoke and realized that her apartment was on fire. She just kept saying to me, ‘Destaney, I tried to get to them. I tried to get to them,’” Handy said.

Handy, who lives in Iowa, said she had not yet met Dominic or Aura in person, but had plans to visit them this summer.

“Since I live so far away from them, I hadn’t had the opportunity yet to be able to go out there to meet them. I just don’t know how to fathom that the only time I’m going to be able to see them is in a casket. I never got to hold them. I never got to meet them, but from everything that I know and from everything that I’ve learned, they were amazing. They were amazing kids,” Handy said.

Handy described the family’s state as devastated.

“She’s just devastated. We’re all just devastated. This is like something that feels unreal, like it’s some kind of nightmare that we’re hoping that we can wake up from,” Handy added.

Handy created a GoFundMe to help cover funeral costs for Dominic and Aura.

The family said they appreciate the community’s continued support.