Fire at day care center is Pennsylvania, five children killed

A fire at a Pennsylvania day care center early Sunday killed five children, including four siblings, officials said.

Two teenaged boys escaped by climbing out a window, news media reported. They then screamed for help, alerting neighbors.

Erie Fire Chief Guy Santone told local news media that as many as eight people had been trapped, including the five children, the two teenagers and one adult. No official count was released early on Monday.

"I was just down there, there's flowers everywhere," Santone said about a memorial at the scene. "Nobody likes to see this, especially when it's kids."

Santone said the children who died were between 8 months to roughly 8 years old.

Four of the victims were siblings who were being cared for at the day care, the fire chief said. Their siblings' mother worked the night shift, Santone said.

The homeowner's child was also killed, he said.

The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, a non-profit, lists the address of the home as the Harris Family Daycare. The day care provides "24 hour, 7 days a week childcare service," the chamber said on its website.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation by police and fire officials. Santone told local news media an electrical overload on the first floor living room may have been the cause.

There was only one smoke detector in the house and that was in the attic of the three-story structure, Erie Chief Fire Inspector John Widomski told the news media.

Erie, located on the shore of Lake Erie, is north of Pittsburgh.