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Mother and 4 children among 8 killed in Alabama dock fire
An overnight fire in Scottsboro, Alabama left eight people dead.
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. - A devastating fire destroyed 35 boats and killed eight in Scottsboro, Alabama--a town about 40 miles outside of Huntsville.
Of the eight people killed, including a mother and her four children. Several others were sent to the hospital, but have since been released.
Officials are working to make sure they find any victims still out there. At this point, no one is reported missing, but officials said they will remove all boats from the water to ensure there are no more victims.
"Everybody in there was real close to each other, we were all like family," said Alex Utech, who used to live on that same dock that burned down.
ALABAMA FIRE CHIEF CONFIRMS DEATHS AS FIRE DESTROYS 35 BOATS
Officials said the "B-dock" was filled with houseboats where families were sleeping Sunday night as the fire ripped through 35 boats.
"Several people occupied those houseboats as a primary residence, and our first actions were to, A: rescue the occupants in the water, in addition to putting out the fire," said Scottsboro Fire Chief Gene Necklaus.
The fire chief said 8 people didn't survive, including a mother and her four children.
"A dear friend of ours, he's lost a lot with this, and it's real hurtful to see it like this," said Utech.
More than 50 first responders rushed to the scene to help recover wreckage and search for potential additional victims.
For neighbors, this loss cuts to the core. "It's kind of hard to explain really," said Utech. "All of it's still new, and I don't think it's hit most of us yet on the loss of lives and everything...it's just so sad, it really is," said Utech.
Crews said they believe the fire started near the beginning of the dock and moved out to the other boats farther down the dock, but the cause of the fire is still under investigation.