Four children and their mother died following a fire late Tuesday night in Franklin Township.

At 12:21 a.m. Wednesday, the Carbon County Coroner’s Office was requested to respond to a house fire at 56 and 60 Willow Street, for a reported structure fire. Additional information was that there was confirmed entrapment on the 56 side of the duplex.

As of 8:45 a.m., the Carbon County coroner’s office confirmed there are five fatalities, three boys, one girl, and one woman.

Autopsies are scheduled for Thursday to determine the cause and manner of death. The autopsies will be conducted at the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office and Forensics Center in Allentown.

Their names are not being released at this time.

“On behalf of the Carbon County Coroner’s Office we extend our sincere condolences to the family members during this tragic loss of their loved ones,” said Jason T. Smith, Chief Deputy Coroner.

Township fire Chief Lynn Diehl said firefighters responded at 11:49 p.m. Tuesday to the fire at the double home.

“There was heavy involvement when I got there,” Diehl said. “The trucks arrived shortly thereafter, there was fire blowing out the back of the building.”

Diehl said the victims were three school-aged children, one preschool age child, and an adult.

“It took a while, we got a couple of the victims out right away,” he said. “We knew where they were, but things weren’t totally safe at that point.”

Diehl said the other family who lived on No. 60 side of the double home managed to get out safely.

He said the home is uninhabitable, and will have to be destroyed.

Diehl said firefighters remained on scene until just before 7 a.m.

He said the cause of the fire is unknown, and that a fire marshal was on scene.

Diehl said that both he and Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Lilly said this particular fire really hit home.

“We’ve both been (with the fire department) for 48 years, and I don’t ever (recall) a fire with this much loss of life,” he said. “It was as rough one.”

Diehl said a group that provides support to people affected by traumatic events was expected to meet with the firefighters.

“It affects everybody differently,” he said. “We have a critical incident stress management team coming in later on to talk with our firefighters who actually dealt with the victims.”

Diehl added, “It’s very stressful and emotional.”

He said also assisting at the scene were the Lehighton Fire Department, Parryville Fire Department, Bowmanstown Fire Department, Mahoning Valley Fire Department, Towamensing Township Fire Department, Jim Thorpe Fire Department, Aquashicola Fire Department for its cascade system, and Lehighton Ambulance.

“We depended heavily on mutual aid, everyone worked so well together,” Diehl said. “The Com Center did an excellent job.”

The Pennsylvania State Police Lehighton station was called to the scene.

Troopers and Fire departments arrived to find the home to be fully engulfed on the first floor and rear of the second floor.

The investigation remains active by the Pennsylvania State Police Lehighton Criminal Investigation Unit along with the Troop N Fire Marshal Unit.

School reaction

Lehighton Area School District issued an announcement early Wednesday morning about the students.

“Late last night and early this morning, our community suffered a tragic loss in a house fire,” Lehighton Superintendent Jason Moser said in a statement Wednesday morning. “While details are not publicly available as of yet, we have reason to believe that three Lehighton students, a kindergartner, first grader, and a ninth grader perished in this tragic event. There are no words available to express how deeply sad this is for everybody. Please keep the families, friends, classmates, and anyone who has a close relationship with the deceased in your thoughts and prayers.”

“As a school district, we are coordinating to ensure that all of our students have the support system necessary to help them through this community loss,” Moser said. “We will have dedicated spaces in each of our buildings available for any children who need to speak with qualified professionals to provide emotional support. We are also coordinating with local entities to provide additional qualified professionals to be in our buildings. Should a child need to meet with someone, either they or their parent can reach out to the building.

“Tragedies such as this are incredibly difficult and felt very deeply throughout the entire community,” Moser said. “It is at times like this that we as a community need to be caring and thoughtful about how each other may suffer from the impact of this loss. These are also the times when strong communities, such as the Lehighton Area School District, closely come together to positively support one another, and I have no doubt that we will do just that in order to help our community through this difficult time.”

Jarrad Hedes contributed to this report.