Vigil to be held for 2 kids who died in Akron house fire

Updated: Oct. 20, 2017 at 5:42 PM EDT
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House fire in Akron. (Source: WOIO)
House fire in Akron. (Source: WOIO)
Kymera Cody, 5, and Jada Snowden, 12, died from injuries sustained in the fire. (Source:...
Kymera Cody, 5, and Jada Snowden, 12, died from injuries sustained in the fire. (Source: GoFundMe)
Burned items from house fire in Akron. (Source: WOIO)
Burned items from house fire in Akron. (Source: WOIO)
Two children were injured in the fire. (Source: WOIO)
Two children were injured in the fire. (Source: WOIO)

AKRON, OH (WOIO) - A vigil will be held for the two children who died in an Akron house fire on Oct. 13.

The night begins with a Walkathon in honor of Jada Snowden, 12 and Kymera Cody, 5, at Erie Island Park at 5 P.M. and a candle light vigil will begin around 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

According to the Akron Fire Department, firefighters responded to a house fire in the 1200 block of Seward Avenue last week.

Crews pulled Jada and Kymera from the home and transported them to Akron Children's Hospital for treatment.

Both girls attended Akron Public Schools. The district's superintendent, David James, released a statement upon hearing the news:

"We are saddened by the news of the deaths of Kymera Cody and Jada Snowden.  We are here to help and support their family in any way we can during this difficult time.  

Our counselors and psychologists will have their teams at Schumacher and Buchtel community learning centers first thing Monday morning to assist classmates of Kymera and Jada and our staff members who feel these losses profoundly.

This is the third time in 10 months we have lost children in house fires in our community.  Nine children have perished.  This has led us to begin discussing working on a better way to help children protect themselves outside of school hours.  Clearly, more must be done."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but an Akron Fire Department official said there were no smoke detectors in the home.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the family during this time. Click HERE to help.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, three out of five home fire deaths happen from fires in homes without working smoke detectors.

Operation Save-A-Life, run by the Red Cross, is a program designed to help people with fire safety and prevention.

To get help in getting a free smoke detector, visit their website here and select your county for more information.

Download the Cleveland 19 News app and First Alert Weather app.

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