Four people…3 of them children…were killed and 17 others displaced by a fire shortly before 11:00 last night in Rapid City. The blaze was what authorities described as a multi-family structure, a home converted into apartments.

Lt. Brent Long of the Rapid City Fire Department says 51-year old Marcia Rock was pronounced dead at the scene with her grandchildren: 9-year-old Thomas Rosado, 5-year-old Dustin Rosado and 3-year-old Marquez Hawkwing…pronounced dead at the hospital.

Lt Long says the investigation is continuing, with early indications that human actions may have contributed to the cause of the fire. He emphasizes that the process of confirming a cause will be slow-moving, methodical, and thorough.

Larry Wright, who lives across the street, told the Rapid City Journal that he had worried that a tragedy was bound to happen because there were so many people living there, and because of what he described as the poor condition of the property.

Wright, whose brother is a Rapid City alderman,  said he’d complained about to the city more than once about the home and its condition.