Three children are dead Wednesday night after a house fire.
Firefighters at the scene in Hammond, Indiana tried to get inside the burning house, but were thwarted from entering the back by a severe gust of heat, the Chicago Tribune reported. The house's front and side doors were also blocked.
"The front door was barricaded, so they had to take the hinges off to get in," Hammond Chief Fire Inspector Michael Opinker told The Times of Northwest Indiana.
By the time the firefighters made it into the house on Sibley Street it was too late.
"They were found holding each other," Opinker told the Chicago Tribune.
The children, Dasani Young, 4, Alexia Young, 3, and 7-month old Jayden Young- were just feet from the door.
"That broke my heart," Opinker said.
Firefighters responded to the call for the fire around 10:30 p.m., The Times of Northwest Indiana reported.
The father of the children, Andre Young, was found outside the house, lying on the front yard with two other children beside him. The father was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was treated for third-degree burns, Marisa Kollias, hospital spokeswoman, told the Chicago Tribune. The two children, boys ages 2 and 6, were in stable condition.
Jasmin Rice, Andre Young's neighbor, told ABC Eyewitness News he witnessed the father's efforts to save his children.
"I see this guy, his name was Dre, coming downstairs. I see him just shoot out the back porch and he was on fire," Rice said.
"He rolled in the snow to put out the fire," Rice told the Chicago Tribune. "That's all I can hear in my head right now, him screaming, 'My babies, my babies!'" Rice said.
An investigation into the fire's cause concluded it was most likely started by space heaters the family was using to keep warm during the extremely cold weather. Opinker said one of the heaters was connected to a propane tank.
"There was so much fuel for the fire to do what it did," Opinker told the Chicago Tribune. "These kids had no chance."
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