A Vicksburg mother handed her toddler to another as she ran in to a burning house to save the life of one of two children badly burned in an Oak Street inferno.

“I’m hoping anybody would have done that,” said Oak Street resident Cliftina Grissom, who blinded by smoke, followed their uncle Anthony Evans into the house.

The fires

Jan. 25 — A former corner grocery store and five homes are destroyed at Second North and Jackson streets; Leroy Evans, 32, 1762 Mississippi 27, Utica, has been charged with arson in that blaze and three other structures and two vehicles in Vicksburg and Warren County since 2000.

Feb. 23 — Two vacant houses are destroyed and one is damaged in a fire that Chief Charles Atkins has ruled an arson. No arrest has been made, but Atkins said his department has identified a suspect.

Feb. 26 — Three homes on Grove Street are destroyed by a fire ruled as an accident.

March 7 — Three homes on Oak Street are destroyed, sending two residents to Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., with second- and third-degree burns.

“He handed me the baby, and I held him until the ambulance got there,” she said.

Grissom, who was visiting the family at 2314 Oak St., rescued 4-year-old Robert Evans, and Anthony Evans brought out Stephon Evans, 8.

The two children remained in serious condition today at Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Ga., hospital spokesman Anne Cordeiro said.

Anthony’s mother, Barbara Evans, 57, was also initially was taken to River Region Medical Center. Vicksburg Fire Chief Charles Atkins and a spokesman for River Region said she was transferred, but her location and condition could not be confirmed today.

Atkins has ruled the fire accidental. It also destroyed two other homes, 2312 and 2316 Oak. All were owned by Floweree LP.

Property owner S.J. Tuminello said he was concerned for the family’s well-being. He also said there are no plans to replace the structures. “The other tragedy is those were Marine barracks that housed Confederate soldiers. It’s a part of history gone,” said Tuminello.

Tuminello said he was just yards away at his home, the antebellum residence Floweree, when the flames ignited, and the explosion, reported by neighbors and onlookers, shook the house.

Sunday’s blaze followed three other fires destroying multiple homes throughout the city within weeks, even days, of each other, including two investigated as arsons.

Nearly two weeks ago, blazes destroyed three houses owned by Henry Mayfield in the 1500 block of Grove Street, Atkins said.

The fire was ignited by a space heater at 1507 Grove and spread to 1505 and 1509 Grove.

A family of three escaped the main fire that was later ruled an accident.

On Feb. 23, a fire set at 1402 Main St., destroyed two vacant houses and damaged another near the intersection with First North Street, on both sides at 1400 and 1404 Main. All three houses are owned by the estate of James Buie.

“When I came home, I thought I was going to have to find somewhere to live,” said McKinley Williams, a resident living just doors from the scene.

He said the houses had been condemned in 2007 and complained of vagrants in the buildings.

“The city should have torn them down. All of that would have never been,” said Williams.

Although the fire is still under investigation, Atkins said he believed the flames might have been ignited by someone “trying to get out of the cold” or a “drug-related situation.”

“This would be the extenuating circumstances,” he said.

A Utica man was charged in the Jan. 25 fire that destroyed five homes and a business at Jackson and Second North streets.

Leroy Evans, 32, 1762 Mississippi 27, was arrested Feb. 9 at police headquarters. He was a volunteer with the Bench Fire Station in Utica.

Atkins said the arsons reported at Second North and Jackson streets compared to Main Street were “two different situations.”

“There is a concern. On Jackson Street, were buildings that were being lived in. There is a safety factor there,” said Atkins.

Mississippi Fire Marshal Mike Chaney said in economic downturns, there “tends to be a proliferation of arson. “We’re keeping a very close watch on fires throughout the state,” he said.

Contact Tish Butts at tbutts@vicksburgpost.com