IMLAY CITY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Three young children have died in a house fire overnight in Imlay City, and at least three other family members are critically hurt right now.
Imlay City police chief Scott Pike tells us seven people were at the mobile home when a fire broke out around 3 a.m. We're told three kids aged 3, 5, and 6 have died. Their names were Keyondre, Keith and Keyanna.
Pike says when the firefighters arrived the mother was outside screaming for help. Everyone else was still inside.
One other adult and two children survived and are in critical condition right now. Those victims are a 42-year-old father, an 18-month-old boy and a 1-month-old girl. It's not known right now how seriously the mother was hurt.
"It was a tinder box, no doubt about it. It burned immensely fast and was very extreme heat," Pike said of the fire. "They're lucky to be alive."
Authorities aren't sure yet what caused the fire, but they suspect it may have been a heating issue.
"We've been told that the furnace in the mobile home was not working properly so we don't know if there was an alternate heat source or something wrong with heating in the trailer itself," Pike said at a press conference later Tuesday morning.
Imlay City is about 45 miles north of Detroit. The mobile home community is north of M-53 and the I-69 intersection.
"We're only a town of about 3,500 so everyone knows everyone. So it's imperative that we reach out to our citizens because these children had friends in schools and they know each other. Having so many injured enough but to lose three children and to potentially lose several other people, it's devastating our community," he added.
This is a developing story. Stay with us for updates.