A dad was seen trying to bust in the windows of his home to rescue his trapped family as their house erupted in flames in Memphis.
The Memphis Fire Department (MFD) said the two youngsters, aged eight and 10, and a 33 and 62-year-old all perished as the blaze ripped thorugh a home in a residential neighbourhood of Frayser, Memphis, Tennessee at midnight local time (6am GMT).
A third victim, understood to be the father, was rushed to hospital in critical condition after he tried to tackle the flames.
The dad, with the help of his neighbours, is said to have tried to bust down the windows to get inside the burning building to save his family, ABC24 reported. Tragically, he was unsuccessful
Local media reported that the 33-year-old woman was the mother of the two children, and the 62-year-old was their grandmother.
Cops are still investigating the cause of the fire, but MFD said the flames started after a space heater towards the back of the home was left running.
Earlier reports said the family were trapped inside and unable to escape as the flames climbed.
Neighbours returning that night told Local Memphis how they thought it was their house on fire when they arrived on the street.
One of the residents, who were among the group trying to help the dad break into burning home, told the affiliate: "We're just getting back to the house and we looked down the street and we've seen that there was some black smoke in the air.
"So we looked around the corner and see that the house was on fire. [...]We full sprinted down here, and there was a few people out here, maybe two or three, and then the man that lives in the house, the one that was taken to the hospital. He came around back and he mentioned that his kids were in the house.
"And that's when everybody kind of sprung into action. We went over there and we busted both of those two left-sided windows out and we were trying to reach in and get in but it was just impossible for us to get in.
"There was way too much smoke and fire by that time it came. There was just no way to get in there anymore."
The other neighbour added that he'd "watched them [the children] grow up" for the past five years.
When asked to recall what they were like, the man said: "They used to ride up and down the street with bikes, scooters, all that stuff. Catch the ice cream man. [...] You know, kids,"
A spokesperson for the MFD said they were trying to ascertain whether there was a working smoke detector in the home.
The community has been urged to check their smoke detectors, and warned those using space heaters to keep the device at least four feet away from themselves or anything flammable.
The heating devices should also not be left unattended.
According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, portable electric heaters are "high-wattage appliances" that can "ignite nearby combustible materials like curtains, beds, sofas, paper, clothing, and flammable liquids".
"If ignition results from a heater left on and unattended, a major fire could result," the CPSC website explains.
A few weeks ago, another blaze ripped through a duplex in the city.
Firefighters managed to find two residents who were suffering from smoke inhalation.
Both men were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, where they were sadly pronounced dead.
The blaze started as a cooking fire, causing an estimated $18,000 worth of damages and $9000 worth of contents burned.
