Non-accidental house fire kills 2 Muslim girls from my town today

[Horse with no Name]

My daughter just came home from school. One of their classmates and 2 of his sisters was visiting their father in Oklahoma.
Apparently, the house caught fire this morning and the two younger girls were killed. Parents weren't home.
My daughter told me one of her friends was very upset and said that because these girls were Muslim, they wouldn't go to Heaven.
My daughter comforted her by telling her that they had their own God and beliefs and that they would be taken care of in the afterlife.
She told her also that just in case, Jesus promised to watch over the innocents.
I think my daughter wants to be a politician, but she handled herself quite well. I'm proud of her.
Please send healing thoughts to this family in their loss.
I can't even imagine.:cry:

http://www.newsok.com/article/1585902/?template=home/main
bugmenot info
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holukos1

>>>snip
Dead are:

- Aysha Tawfiq, 12

- Zara Tawfiq, 8

The family told firefighters that a small fire had started in the front room of the house Thursday night. Family members extinguished the fire. They did not notify firefighters about the blaze at the time, Bird said.

The second fire started in a different area of the house and was not related to the first fire, Bird said. Firefighters have not determined a cause of the fire, but have ruled Friday's blaze was not accidental, he said.

The house is rented by the girls' father and stepmother, Wael and Linda Tawfiq. The two had left for work shortly before the fire started.

[Career Prole]

1. "but have ruled Friday's blaze was not accidental"?

:wow:

Please keep us updated if you can. Those poor kids. Hug your kids for us.

[Horse with no Name]

2. I know

I'm wondering if it was a hate crime...or if it was a family problem.
These kids were pulled out of school earlier this week suddenly by their parents and taken to Oklahoma.
Radi was a squad leader in band and my daughter had to take over.:shrug:

[LisaL]

7. It sounds really bizarre. Was one of the girls or someone else

in the family a pyromaniac? Two fires, one of which is fatal, that close to each other. Sounds way to fishy to be accidental.

[Horse with no Name]

10. The kids were sleeping

It says it wasn't accidental.

[LisaL]

11. A pyromaniac is someone who burns things on purpose.

Could one of the girls or the family member suffer from some sort of mental illness? It's just strange, if it was a hate crime, how would the adults leave children alone so soon after the first fire? On the other hand, if they knew one of the girls was prone to starting fires, how would they leave the children alone?

[Horse with no Name]

13. I know what pyromania is

Could be that it is very hard to find jobs in this area and perhaps the parents couldn't stay home. My daughter said that their dad had a hard time finding a job here.
I don't imagine that any of these kids suffered from pyromania at 5 in the morning and then went back to bed.
It's usually done during the waking hours.

[LisaL]

14. Well, I don't know.

Even if it is hard to find a job, it's hard to imagine a parent that would go to work and leave the kids alone, knowing that some maniac is trying to burn the house down.

[TahitiNut]

5. Considering the location, it's easy to speculate ...

... it may have been a hate crime. (Yeah... call me biased. My stepbrother lives there.)

[Horse with no Name]

19. Here is update

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4407098

[Career Prole]

20. Thank you for the update.

How tragic. :(

[uppityperson]

3. So sorry for this, "not accidental"??????? 2 fires?

OK, breath uppity, don't assume that just because they had 2 fires, 1 unreported and the other not accidental that someone burnt them out and killed them on purpose. Don't over react here up, sh. WTF?

Here's a link that doesn't require registration. http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8C341IO1.html
""All accidental causes have been ruled out," as a cause of the fire, which was reported at 5:19 a.m., Bird said, but it appears to have started in a front room of the home and investigators were still looking for the origin.

The family told firefighters that a small fire had started in the front room of the house Thursday night and they thought that had put it out and did not notify firefighters, Bird said."

[Horse with no Name]

9. Something doesn't sound right

The mom was out of state and the father/stepmom were at work.
How else can it not be accidental?

[LisaL]

16. The second article states all accidental causes have been ruled

out, which means somebody did it on purpose?

[antigone382]

4. How awful!

By saying the fire is non-accidental, are they saying that they suspect arson?

Either way, I feel terribly sorry for both the little girls, their family, and their friends. Quite a tragedy.

[funkybutt]

6. Oh NO! That's terrible

I hope it wasn't some hateful and intolerant person who started that fire.

New Orleans had a great middle eastern restaurant and grocery torched shortly after 9/11. As far as I know, they never caught the arsonists.

[Fleshdancer]

8. I'm very impressed with your daughter.

She handled the situation with a grace and maturity rarely seen in adults, much less kids.

My heart breaks for the family of the victims. I can't begin to imagine. I hope the community is coming together to help the parents in their time of need. :(

[madeline_con]

12. "... their own God ..."

Far be it from me to try and hijack a thread, and change it into a "persecuted Christian" tirade. (This is a reference to a thread last night. You had to be there.)

Actually, Allah is the same thing (entity, diety) as the Jewish or Christian God. In Arabic, it means "the God". Arabic speakers of faiths other than Islam use the word "Allah" to refer to their diety.

Like I said, this is not a thread kidnap attempt. It's just an interesting fact you may not have been aware of. :)

[Horse with no Name]

15. Yes. I am aware of that.

Was just telling you how my daughter tried to comfort another friend who was afraid Jesus wasn't going to save these poor kids. I thought she did pretty good considering she isn't sure of all the details herself.
Sorry I missed the thread from last night (NOT).:)

[madeline_con]

17. cool...

nuff said outa me. :hi:

[Horse with no Name]

18. I hope I didn't come across snippy

I really didn't mean to.
Just glad I didn't get mixed up in a flame war...they can be brutal,lol.
Thanks for the info.:hi:

[madeline_con]

21. you didn't...

I have a fence to mend elsewhere though. I think...