Fire Dept: Stove may have ignited fatal NC fire

FAYETTEVILLE — Firefighters say a faulty stove may have started a fire that killed a 3-year-old North Carolina girl earlier this week.

Cmdr. Ronald Lewis of the Fayetteville Fire Department said Monday that arson has been ruled out as a cause of the fire Sunday night that killed Nevaeh Pratt. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but Lewis said a preliminary investigation showed the fire started in the kitchen and involved the stove.

The girl’s father, 26-year-old Kenneth Jerome Pratt, was hospitalized at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill for burns.

One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center on Sunday and was released.

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