Man tried to save girls from fire, never made it out

ATTICA, Ind. (WLFI) - We now know two of the people who died in Tuesday morning's Attica house fire were young girls. In all, three people died. The third was an adult male.

The home at 309 Washington St. in Attica is charred and destroyed. A fire early Tuesday morning engulfed the home.

The fire not only took the home, but also lives. Two of the victims were little girls.

“We had an 18-month-old girl and a 3-year-old girl that were both (fatalities),” Attica Fire Chief Ed O’Farrell said. “And an adult male.”

The identities of the victims have not been confirmed, nor has the relationship between them.

Attica firefighters received the call of the fire just after midnight Tuesday.

Crews from Mellott, West Point and Williamsport also responded.

Firefighters were on the scene for eight hours.

The fire started early Tuesday morning before the rain came. Firefighters say a problem they had was actually getting inside the home because of the fire they faced. Family members of those trapped inside could only watch.

Firefighters were able to get inside the house nearly 7 hours after the fire started. When they entered they found three bodies and two dead dogs.

“If it could've been just our sheer will that we could've saved them, it would've happened, but it wasn't to be,” O’Farrell said. “There was heavy, heavy black smoke. The smoke was so thick if you were to hold your hand up you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.”

One person who lived in the home survived. Firefighters say she was not home at the time. They say the man called 911 inside the house.

He called the dispatcher, told the dispatcher that the house was filling with smoke, and that he could hear the fire, but couldn't see it,” O’Farrell said. “She talked to him for a brief couple of seconds. Then he said, ‘I have to go try to get my kids out.’”

O'Farrell says dispatcher never heard back from that man.

State fire investigators were called to the scene. The cause of the fire has not been determined.