10 relatives, including three children, died in a fire in the house of a firefighter in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States.
The Associated Press news agency, quoting the police, said that the incident took place late at night in an area called Nescopeck.
The ages of the dead children are five, six and seven years while the adults are aged between 20 and 79 years, whose post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow.
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He says that his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were present in the house along with their children and there was a program of summer partying besides swimming.
According to him, 13 dogs were also present in the two-storey house and expressed fear that hardly any of them would be left.
He said that when he got a report on the telephone that a house was on fire and the address given was another house nearby, however, as his fire brigade vehicle approached, he realized that it was his house. .
"I wanted to go in and save my family," Baker told the AP by telephone.
After reaching the spot, when he saw the house in flames, he tried hard to get inside but the doors were locked from inside, he shouted to his son and started throwing water.
Seeing their condition, the fire chief realized that they had relatives in the house, so he asked other firefighters to take them away.
Luzerne District Attorney Sam Cengudoles says a preliminary investigation indicates the fire started on the porch around 2:30 p.m.
"The fire spread very quickly, due to which no one got a chance to get out."
In response to a question, he said that three people managed to escape from the fire, the investigation is on, but until the situation is clear, it cannot be said that someone started the fire intentionally.
Nescopeck is a small town nestled on the banks of the Susquehanna River.
"We couldn't get in, no matter how hard we tried," said Baker, 57, a firefighter for 40 years.
Among the dead was his 19-year-old son, Dale Baker, who followed in his father's footsteps and entered the firefighting profession.
"My son wanted to be like me in everything," Baker said.
