5 dead in NJ house fire, including 4 children

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. - February 23, 2012 (WPVI) -- Fire officials in New Jersey say four of the five people killed in an early morning house fire were children and that all the victims were found on the second floor of the converted farmhouse.

South Plainfield Fire Chief Thomas Scalera says by the time firefighters arrived early Thursday, flames were so intense that they could not access the second floor even with ladders.

The chief says firefighters remain "very somber" because they weren't able to rescue the children. He says it was South Plainfield's mostly deadly fire on record.

Relatives say the fifth victim was the children's grandmother. The children's mother and three other children escaped the blaze. The fire chief says only one of the injured victims remains hospitalized.

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