Four children and two adults are dead after a late-night fire on Mother's Day tore through a family home in Pottsville, PA.

The fire ignited at about 11:55pm on Sunday on the 200 block of Pierce Street. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene after receiving a 911 call and according to officials the blaze was declared under control by 1:00am.

Among the deceased are Eric Brown, 30, the father of the family; Brown's four children, Elijah, 2; Emily, 3; Jeremiah, 7; Joy, 8; and Brown's sister-in-law Kristina Thomas, 26. The mother of the family, Kelly Brown, 28, was at a neighbors house at the time of the fire and survived the incident.

Kelly Brown was at neighbor Jennifer Purcell's home Sunday night doing laundry because her washing machine was broken. Purcell smelled smoke and realized Brown's house was ablaze. The two set off in the direction of the burning home but as they reached it, the Associated Press reports that emergency personnel prohibited Brown from entering the home.

"What do you mean I can't go in?" Brown asked officials. "My kids are in there, my husband is in there, my sister is in there, I've got to go get them."

Brown, along with several neighbors as well as police who first arrived on the scene tried to get into the house to save the victims, but according to Pottsville Fire Chief Todd March the fire was too strong and engulfed the house within minutes.

"When the police got here, and the neighbors, they all tried to get in the back of the building," March said. "One of the police officers tried to get in the basement door in the front. He got in so far, but there were flames already coming from the second floor to the first."

Jeff Kuhlwind, 50, who lives across the street and had called 911 upon seeing the fire was among the people who tried to enter the burning building. But, "nobody was getting in there, there wasn't no way," Kuhlwind told reporters. "It went quick, really, really quick."

According to reports the upper two floors of the three-story home were charred and the back of the home appears to have sustained heavy damage. Officials say that the six victims were all found in the bedrooms and appeared to be asleep when the fire occurred.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but March told reporters that there is nothing to indicate that it was suspicious at this point in time.