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Five young children were killed in a house fire in Bullhead City, Arizona, on Saturday (December 16). Authorities said that the children's father was out Christmas shopping when a fire broke out on the first floor of a two-story duplex.
The flames blocked the only staircase in the house, trapping the kids, ages two, four, five, 11, and 13, upstairs. Police said four children were siblings, while the fifth was a relative.
Emily Fromelt, a spokesperson for the Bullhead City Police Department and Bullhead City Fire District, said that neighbors tried to put out the fire and looked through the windows to see if anybody was inside.
"We were screaming at the tops of our lungs," Patrick O'Neal told The Associated Press. "We didn't see nothing. We didn't hear nothing. There are many guys out here who would have went into that fire if we would have known there was children."
"We did everything we could."
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms was called into assist local police and fire officials with the investigation into the fire. While they have gathered evidence, officials have not provided details about what sparked the fire.