Five children among nine people killed in horror house fire that left firefighters ‘bawling like babies’ as they retrieved the bodies
Firefighters say bars on the home's windows may have prevented those killed from escaping
NINE people - including five children - died early today in Memphis' deadliest house fire in decades, authorities say.
Firefighters initially saw light smoke outside of the single-story wood-and-brick home when they arrived about 1:20 a.m. but encountered heavy smoke once they entered the building.
Crews found four adults and three children dead inside and two other children died after being taken to a children's hospital in extremely critical condition.
One other child remains hospitalised, said Memphis Fire Services Director Gina Sweat, calling it the deadliest fire in Memphis since the 1920s.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland asked for prayers for family members of the dead, who weren't immediately identified.
Some of the victims had signs of smoke inhalation, while others had burns, according to authorities.
He said: "It's a very sad day. We are all in mourning."
Neighbour Shoundra Hampton told The Tennessean: "I've never seen firemen cry, but they were bawling like babies when they brought the children out.
"We've all lived over (here) for 40 years and we are just devastated."
The wooden-frame home, which has a brick facade and bars on some of its windows and doors, is in a poor, working-class neighbourhood of south Memphis.
A smoke detector was found in the house, but it was damaged and officials didn't immediately know if it was working at the time of the fire, Gina said.
The fire official also said it wasn't immediately clear if those inside had tried to escape through the windows.
Gina said window bars present a danger for people trying to escape a house fire, though many window bars have releases that can open them from the inside.
"They could have been simply overcome by smoke and never had an opportunity to escape," she said.
An exact cause hasn't yet been determined, though Sweat said the fire apparently began in the living room.
While the inside of the home was charred, the house didn't burn down and fire officials said only part of the house was affected by the fire.
Sweat went to the site early Monday and spoke with firefighters shocked by the loss of life.
"You could feel the heavy in their hearts, and you could see the pain in their eyes," she said.
Frederick Terrell, who described himself as a friend of the father of the children, said he knew the family well and is stunned. He added they used to have neighbourhood parties and were a close-knit family.
"It's hard. Those kids were so loving, man."
Hours after the fire, a woman knelt on the ground outside the home and wept.
Other people hugged each other along the street and neighbours stood by, watching as members of the fire department went about the home, now roped off by by yellow crime scene taped draped along a wire fence out front.
A red motorised children's toy truck and a red bicycle with no wheels sat outside of the home.
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