07:15 AM EST on Tuesday, March 30, 2004

By JANELLE MARTINEZ / 6NEWS

Investigators could determine Tuesday what started a house fire in northwest Charlotte Monday night.

It happened at a home in the 7800 block of Pawtuckett Road.

6NEWS Firefighters enter the home Monday night.

Firefighters say it started in the kitchen just before 8 p.m.

Investigators say the mother was cooking dinner when she ran to the store and left food on the stove for her kids to watch.

Moments later neighbors heard children screaming and flames shooting from the roof.

Apparently two children and three others had been left inside the home. One of the children is 16-years-old.

One neighbor said when he saw the children, the girls were crying. He said he brought the girls to his house.

Two children were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and at last check at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday they were expected to be fine.

The inside of the home was gutted.

On the ground Tuesday morning outside the home you could see burnt clothing and charred furniture.

Investigators haven’t released an official cause of the fire but say it does appear to be that food that was left on the stove.