North Liberty woman charged with neglect after kids start fire

A North Liberty woman was arrested last week after police say she left her young children — ages 3 and 5 — at home alone and they accidentally started a fire.

Brittany Airhart, 29, is charged with neglect or abandonment of a dependent person. According to a criminal complaint, she left the children alone Nov. 11 in her apartment on Rachael Street in North Liberty. She told police she thought a babysitter had picked the kids up after she left, but she never confirmed that with the babysitter.

A fire started at the apartment, and the building was evacuated. Firefighters found the two children alone in the apartment bedroom and carried them out. They were taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the complaint states.

Investigators believe the fire started in the apartment‘s living room after one of the children turned over a clothes basket that had been left by the fireplace.

Airhart had a first appearance in court Monday on the charge and has been released from custody on her own recognizance.

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