At least four children – including one infant – died in a Florida house fire early Thursday morning, fire officials said.
The fire started around 5:30 a.m. in a small wooden house in Pensacola. Escambia County Fire Rescue battalion chief Curt Isakson told the Pensacola News-Journal the mother and older sibling escaped without injury.
He said the victims were two boys, ages 11 and 5, and two girls, ages 3 and 11 months.
Isakson said firefighters found the children all in one room and first responders couldn’t locate a smoke detector in the home.
Roxanne Walker, a neighbor, told the News-Journal flames quickly engulfed the home and there was nothing anyone could do to help.
Marlow Stripling, another neighbor, said he heard the family screaming for help as he was getting ready to leave for work. He said he rushed into the burning home to help.
"All I saw was smoke, but I still went in and all I saw was a blaze from the middle of the house," he told the paper. “I heard them hollering, but I just didn't know where they were at. I heard them twice ... and after the third time I didn't heard them anymore."
According to the paper, grief counselors were sent to the school that some of the children attended.
The state Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the inferno.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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