Dec. 3, 2025 8p
(WGTD)---A search warrant sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of three children in the townhome fire in Kenosha on Thanksgiving night.
The warrant was obtained to allow authorities to examine Joshua Kannin’s phone.
Kannin is the father of the three children who died. Kannin told authorities they all had gone to bed upstairs when Kannin said he was awakened either by the smell of smoke or by the family’s cat.
Kannin said he went downstairs to investigate and found what he described as a small fire on the kitchen floor.
Kannin said he panicked and ran outside to get help.
By the time he returned, the fire had grown and he couldn’t get back upstairs to rescue the kids.
Two brothers—ages 10 and 9—were pronounced dead at the scene. Their 7-year-old sister died a few hours later at the hospital.
According to the search warrant, Kannin’s phone was recovered upstairs.
As for the possible cause of the fire, Kannin said he remembers smoking a cigarette in the kitchen by the sink and believed he extinguished it before going to sleep.
In a news release issued Wednesday, police described their investigation as “complex and evolving.”
The release said an examination of the phone did not reveal any evidence of criminal activity related to the fire.
A funeral service for the three children is scheduled for Friday.
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