Father of children killed in fire charged

The father of two children burned to death in a fire Wednesday has been charged with causing death by careless conduct. George Rowland Sr. was charged today after an investigation revealed he left his sons, four-year-old George Rowland Jr. and two-year-old Deon Allen alone in the house on Electric Avenue. Banner told police he went to close his shop sometime after eleven and left the children sleeping in the house. Neighbors saw the fire and heard the children screaming just before midnight. No one was able to get into the house because it was already engulfed in flames. The children’s mother was not home at the time, having moved out several days before. Staff at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital had made a medical referral to the Department of Social Services several months ago after the younger boy was admitted for malnutrition and the mother Cynthia Allen for injuries sustained in a beating, allegedly inflicted by her husband. Social Services made a home visit and recommended that the family “receive financial assistance in the form of foodstuff”. Neighbors allege there was also a drug problem in the home.