CHARLESTON, W.Va. --  A 2-year-old boy who was rescued from an intentionally set fire Sunday morning on Charleston's East End dies early Tuesday, and police are treating his death as a homicide.

Charleston Fire Chief Randy Stanley said the boy died early Tuesday from his injuries. Stanley said a cause of death has not been released.

Sgt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, said that since the boy has died, the police would conduct a murder investigation in connection to the blaze.

The boy's three sisters -- ages 3, 1 and 4 months -- are "doing fairly well and they are on the mend," Stanley said.

The children's names have not been released.

The children were all pulled from the first-floor apartment of a building in the 1500 block of Jackson Street around 3:20 a.m. Sunday after an "aggressive fire attack" on the home, said Lt. Ken Tyree, an arson investigator with the Charleston Fire Department.

All of the children were taken to Charleston Area Medical Center Women and Children's Hospital and were treated for smoke inhalation. The boy was then treated in a hyperbaric chamber at Saint Francis Hospital and went into cardiac arrest numerous times Sunday, Stanley said.

All four children were at Women and Children's Hospital Monday in the Intensive Care Unit.

Chad Watson, 52, who was also in the apartment during the blaze, is still in poor condition at Saint Francis Hospital, Stanley said.

"They tried to take him off his ventilator this morning, but that didn't work," he said.

Charleston Police and the fire department are investigating the blaze as a possible arson and are trying to locate the person or persons responsible for the fire.

Anyone with information regarding the fire should call the Charleston Fire Department Shift Commander at 304-348-8133, the Fire Prevention Bureau at 304-348-8058 or the Charleston Police Criminal Investigation Division at 304-348-6480.

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.