Community members, elected officials and firefighters attended a vigil Saturday to grieve and show their support for a St. Paul family that lost four children in a house fire earlier this month.

The vigil was held at the American Indian Magnet School, where two twin girls who perished in the fire were kindergartners, and where their mother works. The mother, Ker Lor, and two of her children remain hospitalized.

A surviving 6-year-old boy is a first-grader at the school.

Lor has worked at the school since the fall of 2022. She is a special-education teaching assistant, according to the school district. She previously was an intern in St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s office.

Carter spoke at the vigil, saying that even in the deepest depths of his grief, Pa Cheng Vang — Lor’s husband and the children’s father — wanted to share with people that it was important to make sure smoke alarms worked at home and that families, especially those with children, practiced fire safety drills.

“It’s hard for me to this day how Pa Cheng has the ability to swing his legs out of bed every morning right now and also encourage me at this time,” Carter said.

Carter turned to St. Paul Fire Chief Butch Inks and said, “I take great comfort, Chief, in knowing that those same people who ran into the Vang home and carried those children out of that burning house are the ones who stand guard over our families while we sleep. Thank you all for the sacred work you do for our community.”

Inks said that more than 63 first responders were at the fire scene and that his staff is shaken and also grieving the fatalities.

“We did everything we could that night and sometimes the outcomes are not what we want, and we live with that,” he said. “Our responders will live with that forever.”

One of the firefighters who rescued some of the Vang children was in the back of the room at the vigil with his wife.

When a family spokeswoman, Susan Vang, took the microphone to give updated conditions of the family, he leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together.

Susan Vang said that unfortunately, the mother and the oldest son, who is 6, were still unconscious.

“On a positive note, the youngest is now awake and has begun eating,” she said.

As she shared the good news about the youngest member of the Vang family, the firefighter let out an audible exhalation of relief and his wife reached out and put her hand on his back.

American Indian Magnet School Principal Julie Hutcheson-Downwind, second from left, speaks as she, St. Paul Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Joe Gothard, far left, and the staff of American Indian Magnet School give their condolences to the family and friends of the Vang family at the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Pa Cheng Vang was at work early Jan. 3, 2024, when a fire started at his St. Paul home. His wife, Ker Lor, and their six children were critically injured. Four of the children have since died. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

American Indian Magnet School Principal Julie Hutcheson-Downwind said the staff and children’s classmates are incredibly sad.

She said the girls loved coloring and came to school in beautiful matching dresses and would greet people with waves.

“We stand with you; we stand with you in grief, we stand with you in hope,” she said.

Nelsie Yang, city council member for St. Paul’s Ward 6, also spoke at the vigil.

“What I feel at this moment is the power of community coming together,” she said. “What the Vang family went through is something we all know could happen to us. This is not an isolated situation at all. This is a loss that is unimaginable and I can’t put into words how heartbroken I am. What would it look like for any of us to wake up one day and be told that your kids are no longer here or your family is no longer here?”

Pa Cheng Vang was at work on Jan. 3 when the fire broke out at his home on Arkwright Street near Maryland Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Firefighters carried out the home’s seven occupants, each unconscious, giving them all CPR at the scene and getting them to the hospital.

Siv Ntshiab Vang, 5, died later that day. Her twin sister, Ntshiab Siv Vang, and brother, Muaj Tshav Ntuj Vang, 4, died Jan. 5. Muaj Cag Txuj Vang, an 18-month-old boy, passed away Jan. 6.

A fundraiser for the children’s funerals and in support of the family can be found at gofundme.com/f/siv-ntshiab.

For people who want to send gifts to the children, the Hmong 18 Council said they can mail them to its office, Attention: Vang Family and children, 911 E. Maryland Ave., Suite F1, St. Paul, MN 55106.

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