Hibbing Mother Charged with Neglect after Apartment Fire

A Hibbing woman has been charged after a fire started in her apartment while she left her two young kids home alone. 

24-year-old Kenya Perteet was charged Thursday with two counts of Child Endangerment and two counts of Child Neglect. 

The charges stem from an incident on Tuesday when the Hibbing Fire Department responded to an apartment fire on the 2300 block of 4th Avenue East. 

When crews arrived, they found smoke coming out of a first floor door. 

A neighbor told authorities they were alerted to the fire after two kids, ages 5 and 2, came to their door. 

The kids told the neighbor their mother was at work. 

The fire was isolated to the kitchen area. The 5-year-old said the younger child was by the stove and some papers started on fire, which started some adjacent garbage on fire.   The apartment had smoke alarms, but they were not working at the time. 

Damages were estimated at $15,000. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, however, it is believed to be the result of unattended children.