In-Depth: Jacksonville Fire Dept. Responds Twice to Deadly Fire

Update:
 
Jacksonville Police identified the victims of the fire as:

• Marilyn Beavers, 30
• Dequan Singleton, 10
• Sydni Singleton, 9
• Haylee Beavers, 6
• Emily Beavers, 4  

A Jacksonville woman who called 911 concerned about smoke coming from an adjoining apartment where a mother and her four kids were later found dead Thursday says she wishes fire crews would have found the fire the first time she called.

"There was smoke in my apartment, I called 911, they came out," said Jennifer Gray.
 
Jennifer Gray described what she saw and did Thursday after smelling smoke seeping through her walls from her neighbor's kitchen.

 "It was burning my nostrils, I couldn't breathe," she said.

Fire crews arrived around 5:50 am, and Gray says she was surprised at what firefighters found.
Nothing.

"They said it was from the fire burning across the interstate, but there was no smoke out here, but there was smoke in my apartment," said Gray.

Jacksonville Police released a statement on behalf of the Fire Department stating they did an internal walk of Gray's apartment and walked around the duplex.

The release stated, "No sign of smoke or fire was found; firemen used a thermal imager, which is a device that detects heat, and no sign of fire was found."

Gray says about an hour after fire crews left, a maintenance man saw black fire damage around the back, went into the apartment and found five lifeless bodies.

Hours after losing her neighbors, Gray retraced her steps, wondering why crews didn't catch it.

"Look further into it if you smell smoke and it's not in the atmosphere or the ground level there is something else going on," she said.

KARK called the Jacksonville Fire Department, they refused to comment on the ongoing investigation but say they believe crews took appropriate action at the time.

In their statement, they also said they believe the smoke in the area was lingering from another structure fire, across the highway.

Stunned by the tragedy, Gray says she still wishes more could have been done.

"It was not a tiny fire... it was a huge fire," she said.

Investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire. We're told there is no governing standard for how firefighters respond to calls. Each department determines their own standards of practice.