Seattle Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark tweeted Sunday that his father and three of his family members were the ones killed in a Collinwood house fire last Tuesday. He referred to the fire as arson, though a cause has not yet been identified by local investigators.My father was killed in an arson fire along with 3 other members of my family on the East Side of Cleveland. Pray for me and my family during this time. pic.twitter.com/bjXxHCRe4n
— Frank Clark (@TheRealFrankC_) February 4, 2018
The four people killed in the blaze were forty-four-year-old Alfonso Lathan Jr., his three-year-old son Alfonso Lathan III, his eight-year-old granddaughter Nyiah Lathan, and his 44-year-old nephew all perished in the blaze.
"The entire Seahawks family is mourning with Frank Clark and his loved ones after their tragic loss," the NFL team said in a statement Sunday. "Our thoughts and prayers will be pouring out to Frank and his family during their time of grieving."
The house fire occurred on Collinwood's Hillview Ave., north of Euclid. The blaze began about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. It took 38 firefighters 90 minutes to control the blaze, said a spokesman, in part because the cold wind fueled the flames. The damage was so pervasive that a cause has not yet been identified, but officials are investigating.
Per Cleveland.com, the fire is Cleveland's deadliest since a 2009 conflagration on Clark Avenue. That fire also killed four, including two young children and an infant.
