IMLAY CITY (WWJ) - Authorities say three children died and two others, along with their parents, remain in critical condition following a mobile home fire in Imlay City.
The fire broke out around 3 a.m. Tuesday in the Maple Grove Estates neighborhood on Almont Avenue.
"One of the trailers was on fire and there was a woman screaming...that people were still inside," Imlay City Police Chief Scott Pike told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "The front half of the trailer was fully engulfed in flames."
Firefighters quickly responded to the scene and rescued five children and a man from the home. Pike said three of the children -- a 3-year-old girl and two boys, ages 5 and 6 -- were fatally injured.
The other two children -- a 1-month-old girl and 18-month-old boy -- the father, 42, and mother, 29, were taken to the hospital with severe burns and last reported in critical condition.
The home is a complete loss. Pike said the furnace may have had something to do with the fire.
"Our suspicion is some type of heating element," he said. "We had heard that possibly they were having furnace problems and it was a cold night."
An official cause of the fire remains under investigation.
"It's just a horrific event. Nobody wants this to happen in their community," said Pike. "It's not easy for anybody."
Community members held a candlelight vigil for the family near the mobile home Tuesday night.
"In Imlay City we talk, we gossip, we fight. But when a local family goes through something devastating we stick together and pull through! I cant imagine what this family is going through," One of the event's organizers posted on Facebook
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. It had already raised nearly $7,000 in eight hours.
