Parents arrested after apt. fire where kids were home alone

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Police arrested a mother and father in McMinnville who they said left two of their children, ages 5 and 6, at home alone, where they escaped an apartment fire last week.

The fire started at the Jandina Park Apartments, located at 1750 SW Sesame Street in McMinnville, on Friday morning at around 10:30 a.m., according to McMinnville Fire Marshal Eric McMullen.

He said a 5-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy were home alone in the apartment where the fire started.

Investigators think a blanket somehow came in contact with a candle and started the fire. As smoke filled the apartment, the children told firefighters they ran and hid in a bedroom, McMullen said.

They had opened a window and broken out the screen when a neighbor saw them. She grabbed them and helped get them to safety.

No one was hurt, but the fire forced 4 families from their homes.

McMinnville police said the childrens’ parents, John Wilson and Athena Heusel, left them home alone while they took their 3-year-old child to an appointment. Wilson and Huesel were arrested Monday on criminal mistreatment and child neglect charges. They were booked into the Yamhill County Jail on $12,500 bail.

Their three children are in protective custody.