Charred siding and items are strewn about at a two-family home in Somers, Connecticut, in the aftermath of a fatal fire (Picture: AP)
Four young children were killed in a house fire that ‘was just too great’ for neighbors trying to save them using extinguishers.
The kids aged five, six, eight and 12 died in the blaze that started at a two-family home in Somers, Connecticut, around 10.20pm on Tuesday, said First Selectman Tim Keeney.
Some neighbors attempted to use extinguishers ‘but the volume of fire was just too great at that time’, fire department Chief John Roache told USA Today on Wednesday.
Firefighters arrived at the duplex on Quality Avenue to find it fully engulfed and had to break doors to get inside.
Members of the Somers Fire Department go through debris at the two-family home on Wednesday (Picture: AP)
‘They had difficulty getting into the house because the doors had things in front of them,’ Keeney told NBC Connecticut.
‘It’s a tremendous loss for the town.’
The blaze broke out on the side of the duplex where the four young victims were found. Eight people lived on that side of the building and seven of them were home including an adult when the inferno began, according to officials. The adult and two other children survived.
Firefighters who entered the building found two kids quickly and one died at the scene while the other was pronounced dead at Johnson Memorial Hospital, Roache said. Soon afterward, the two other kids were found dead in the home.
Fire Chief John Roache speaks at a news conference at the Somers Fire Department on Wednesday (Picture: AP)
‘The whole front of the house was very involved. The first floor right up to the second floor. Limited access. Very hard to get in there. Crews did an extraordinary job trying to get in there and do some rescues,’ said the fire chief. ‘They did several grabs and got victims out.’
Four residents on the other side of the duplex escaped unharmed.
One firefighter was treated for burns.
State police gather at the aftermath of a fire in two-family home in Somers, Connecticut (Picture: AP)
The home was a complete loss. It appeared to have working smoke detectors, fire officials said. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation and did not initially appear to be criminal.
Surviving family members have asked that any donations be made to the Somers Angel fund.
The four kids died a few months after a landlord in Brooklyn, New York, allegedly set an apartment on fire because his tenants did not pay rent and caused parents to toss four of their children to neighbors outside on the ground.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Firefighters arrived to find a two-family home in Somers, Connecticut, fully engulfed in flames.