7 adults, 3 children killed in house fire in Pennsylvania

A Pennsylvania house fire early Friday killed 10 people, including three children, all from the same family and related to a volunteer firefighter who responded to the blaze.

Three children, ages 5, 6 and 7, and seven adults were killed in the Neskope fire, state police said. Three others managed to escape the inferno, according to first responders.

Neskopk volunteer firefighter Harold Baker told Citizen Voice The victims include her son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, three grandchildren and two cousins, Wilkes-Barre said.

“As we turn the corner here in Dewey [Street] I immediately knew what house it was when I looked down the street,” Baker told the paper. “I was on the first engine and when we pulled up, the whole place was fully engaged. We were trying to get to them.

Thirteen dogs were in the home when the fire broke out around 2:30 a.m., Baker said WNEP. It is not known if any of them survived.

“The children there and my two children were visiting their aunt and uncle. Those who owned the house. They were going there and going to the pool,” Baker said.

A loud bang or explosion was heard by neighbors who saw the house quickly engulfed in flames.

“They’re all dead,” a young man shouted in front of the house, some neighbors reportedly said.

A “complex criminal investigation” is ongoing, Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Derek Felsman said.

With AP wires