{"id":2829,"date":"2026-07-06T18:09:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829"},"modified":"2026-07-06T18:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T18:09:40","slug":"kids-injured-in-columbia-house-fire-out-of-hospital-police-say-as-donations-sought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829","title":{"rendered":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Columbia Police are accepting donations for three young girls critically injured in a house fire last week that prompted two arrests after law enforcement discovered the children were left alone for at least a week.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2827\">Lake Murray parade winner disqualified for \u2018offensive\u2019 flag. What did it say?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The children have been released from the JMS Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia, where they had been in critical condition, police said. The children are in the custody of the S.C. Department of Social Services, the police department said Monday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Donations of essentials and comfort items will be accepted 24 hours a day, Monday through Wednesday at 1 Justice Square, where the city police department is located, police announced last week.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Columbia Police Foundation is collecting clothing, hygiene products and money for the children, aged 6, 4 and 2 years old.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>They are requesting pull-up diapers of <u>various sizes<\/u>, as well as body wash, hair care products and other hygiene items, such as toothpaste. Comfort items include stuffed animals and blankets.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Police say those giving should lean to smaller sizing when donating clothes for the children, who Columbia Police Department Deputy Chief Melron Kelly described as \u201cmalnourished\u201d Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Monetary donations are the most flexible for the girls\u2019 needs, police say. Visit <u>the Columbia Police Foundation website<\/u> to donate or drop off a gift card. Police ask that those giving online include a note about what they are donating for.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<h2>Mother and one father charged<\/h2>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Mother of the three girls, Zana Oden, was charged with three counts of unlawful conduct towards a child last Tuesday. She was arrested less than a mile from the Floran street home, hiding from police in a closet.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The father of one of the children, Mali\u2019k Locke, 21, was arrested on the same charges after police discovered the depth of his knowledge about the girl\u2019s living situation.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The other fathers of the children have been contacted. Police expect the children to be released into emergency custody after treatment. The South Carolina Department of Social Services stepped in following the discovery of deplorable conditions in the home.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2825\">Deadly house fire may have been caused by fireworks, South Carolina sheriff says<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The three children were left alone for at least a week prior to the house fire, investigators say, and were living in bug-ridden, filthy conditions. The lead investigator on the case, Investigator Haley Threatt, said medical personnel found maggots in the youngest child\u2019s diaper, along with bed bug bites on all three children.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Oden, 28, approached the home the night of the fire, but left when she noticed the heavy police presence, prosecutors said at her bond hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Both defendants have not yet been released on bond and are being held at the <u>Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center<\/u>, records show. Bond was set at $300,000 for Oden and $200,000 for Locke.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Bond was set at $300,000 for the 28-year-old woman who is being held in the <u>Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. <\/u>Locke, 21, had his bond set at $200,000 and is also being held at the Richland County jail, records show.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Both defendants will be appointed a public defender prior to their next court date, set for Sept. 25.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The fire began near the entrance to the home, according to Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins, though its source remains under investigation. Flames never reached the children, but heat and smoke inhalation caused at least one child to be found unresponsive when firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Arson is under investigation, the fire department said.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of evidence still to go through,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnybody that is found to be harboring or helped in this case will have charges brought against them, that\u2019s how serious we got to be about helping our kids. Absolutely defenseless, these children are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The investigation is being conducted in coordination with the Columbia-Richland Fire Department\u2019s fire marshal\u2019s office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the Columbia Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at (803) 545-3525 or submit anonymous tips to Midlands Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC or through P3 Tips.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2824\">New Columbia liquor store on Rosewood OK\u2019d after being rejected last year<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Columbia Police are collecting clothing, hygiene items and monetary donations for three girls critically injured in a house fire. Drop off at 1 Justice Square Mon\u2013Wed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Columbia Police are collecting clothing, hygiene items and monetary donations for three girls critically injured in a house fire. Drop off at 1 Justice Square Mon\u2013Wed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"US Moving Experts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"headline\":\"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829\"},\"wordCount\":710,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829\",\"name\":\"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?p=2829#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Moving Experts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/usmovingexpertss.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts","og_description":"Columbia Police are collecting clothing, hygiene items and monetary donations for three girls critically injured in a house fire. Drop off at 1 Justice Square Mon\u2013Wed.","og_url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829","og_site_name":"US Moving Experts","article_published_time":"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"headline":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought","datePublished":"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829"},"wordCount":710,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829","name":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought - US Moving Experts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-06T18:09:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6420460c4819c61b4a86518cffc550f9.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=2829#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kids injured in Columbia house fire out of hospital, police say, as donations sought"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/","name":"US Moving Experts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d4595f9a47af262eb0de41137cae39b6","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com"],"url":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}