FLORENCE — The house fire that critically injured an east Florence man and sent his two children to a hospital burn center likely started from a wood heater, officials said Wednesday.

Timothy Shane Green, 39, remained in critical condition Wednesday in UAB Hospital, while his children showed improvement, officials said.

“From what we have been able to determine, the fire started somewhere near the wood heater and the chimney area,” Florence Fire Marshal Danny Simbeck said.

Simbeck, Florence Fire inspector Lt. Casey Glover and an investigator with the state Fire Marshal’s office spent several hours at the residence at 421 Enterprise St., shoveling through charred debris in search of the fire’s origin.

The residence is just off Veterans Drive.

The wood heater is in the den, located near the kitchen on the north side of the two-story house.

Green and his two children, Trinity, 2, and Devin, 6, were asleep when the fire started.

The fire was reported at 4:35 a.m. Tuesday.

Green’s right hand was severely cut as he broke out a window and lifted the children out of the window to safety. He also suffered some burns and smoke inhalation, emergency personnel said.

Nicole Wyatt, a spokeswoman at UAB Hospital, said Green is in critical condition. He had surgery on his hand at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence before being transferred to Birmingham.

His children are at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. A family friend said Wednesday the two children are in regular rooms at the hospital and are expected to be released within a few days.

Firefighters said Tuesday when they arrived at the residence smoke and flames were visible, and the flames already were coming through a window on the north side of the house.

Simbeck said it appears the fire definitely started in or near the den.

“I’m just glad he was able to get the children out when he did,” Simbeck said.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.