7 children die in Pennsylvania house fire

By Jason Kessler, CNN

March 9, 2011 -- Updated 1101 GMT (1901 HKT)


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The children's ages are 7 months to 11 years
They are six girls and one boy
Police: The mother was milking cows in the barn and the father was at work


(CNN) -- Seven children died in a fire at a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania while their parents were elsewhere, state police said Wednesday morning.

The children -- ages 7 months to 11 years -- died Tuesday night when the fire fully engulfed the Mennonite family's two-story house in Loysville, about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg, Tom Pinkerton of the state police said.

The parents, who were outside the house at the time of the fire, survived, as did another child, he said.

The father was taking a nap in his milk truck after making a few stops along his delivery route, Pinkerton said. The mother was milking cows in the barn.

"While mom's milking cows, her 3-year-old daughter comes running into the barn and the 3-year-old tells the mother that there's smoke inside the house," Pinkerton said. "Mom leaves the barn, comes running out, sees that the house appears to be on fire."

The mother went to two neighbors' houses before she could get someone to call 911, he said. She then found her husband sleeping in his milk truck and they rushed back to the home to find their home engulfed in flames and firefighters trying to put out the blaze.

The children -- six girls and a boy -- were found dead inside the house.

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