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ROCHESTER, N.Y. >> A mother who was rescued from a house fire that killed four of her children was charged Friday with setting the fire, authorities said.
Bobbie Kugler, 31, was scheduled to be arraigned in City Court on Saturday on four counts of manslaughter and arson, Rochester Fire Chief John Caufield said at a news conference.
Kugler is the mother of 14-year-old Gage Reavey, 13-year-old Greg Kugler, 12-year-old Kandee Kugler and 6-year-old Kaiden Kugler. All died in the Feb. 18 fire in their two-story Rochester home.
Firefighters rescued Kugler and her 2-year-old son from the first floor.
"This fire is a result of human intervention. This was not an accidental fire," Caufield said.
Fire officials said the blaze began in a first-floor bedroom but declined to say how it started or elaborate on the mother’s involvement or motive, citing the pending legal case.
"She is being charged specifically with arson, that being setting a fire and causing the death of her four children," Deputy Chief Mike Wood said.
Charges of manslaughter, he said, stem from "recklessly causing the death of another human being."
Officials didn’t discuss whether more serious charges were considered or are possible.
Kugler was arrested Friday in Poughkeepsie, where she has been living. It wasn’t known if she had a lawyer. No one answered the phone at a telephone listing in her name.
