MONTICELLO – A six-year-old girl was killed in a fire that engulfed her family’s Monticello apartment Sunday night. A 31-year-old woman and six other children escaped. But, when firefighters extinguished the flames, they found the dead girl in the living room area.

Firefighters arrived on the scene four minutes after the 9:27 p.m. call came in and found apartment 61 at the Monticello Garden Apartments on Moon Manor Road in total flames. Several fire departments assisted Monticello in battling the blaze, which is believed to have started in the kitchen and spread quickly, forcing the occupants to flee to a balcony.

A next door neighbor is credited with catching at least one of the children that was forced to jump from the second story.

The woman in the apartment, who is the mother of the dead child and a three-year-old boy, were taken from the scene by Mobile Medic Ambulance for treatment of smoke inhalation.

The American Red Cross provided housing for the family and tenants in adjoining apartments that were displaced by the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by Monticello Police and the Sullivan County Bureau of Fire Investigation.