Four killed in NE Indiana house fire

FREMONT, Ind. — A mom and her three children were killed in an early morning house fire in northeastern Indiana, state police say.

Responding to a 911 call around 5 a.m. Saturday. Fremont firefighters arrived to find a two-story house in flames, according to an Indiana State Police news release.

As the home burned around them, firefighters went inside, found the woman and children and brought them out, the release said.

The family was taken to a hospital where the children were pronounced dead. Their mother survived long enough to be flown to another facility for treatment, but she ultimately died from her injuries, officials said.

State and county investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, and “if there was a criminal element” behind it, according to a release.

Fire officials believe the fire started on the second floor, in a part of the house nobody was in, before spreading to the rest of the structure, the release said. It appears the woman and children were all together in the same bedroom at the time.

State police did not release the names or ages of any of the victims.

Fremont is about 50 miles north of Fort Wayne.