For the latest on this story, click here
The only child to survive the fire in Carpentersville is now fighting for his life at Loyola University Medical Center.
The fire spread so fast, firefighters say by the time they arrived the home was fully engulfed with three very young children trapped in the basement.
The fire broke out at a home in the 1700 block of Kingston Circle in Carpentersville, fire officials said.
Crews from the Carpentersville Fire Department responded to the fire around 9:38 a.m. officials said.
Multiple people were trapped inside the home at the time of the fire.
Two young children died as a result of the fire, Carpentersville Fire Chief William Anaszewicz said. Their genders, ages and identities were not yet known.
The fire chief said that the third child who was inside the house was taken to Sherman hospital, but was later moved to Loyola.
SEE ALSO | 2 killed, at least 4 injured in Kenwood apartment fire, officials say
It was just after 9:30 a.m. Sunday when Carpentersville resident Sam Olvera looked outside his window to see flames shooting out from his neighbor's home.
"By the time I got dressed and come out and see what I could do, the house just went up in flames," Olvera said. "The whole front of the house."
Then things got worse.
"I thought everybody was out, and thought, 'Okay, we'll just wait for the fire department to get here,'" Olvera said. "And all of a sudden I heard, 'There's kids in there. There's kids in there.'"
Firefighters arrived within minutes. Reports were that six people were trapped inside, including three young children who were reported to be in the basement.
"The guys went to work right away," Chief Anaszewicz said. "Grabbed what they could to try to put the fire out. Start a search immediately of the building."
Seeing the magnitude of the fire, a MABAS alarm was called, bringing in resources from all over Kane County.
"Upon arrival the crews had fire coming out of all four windows of the building here," Chief Anaszewicz said. "So their immediate response was to try to put the fire out and then initiate the searches then made it in through the front door and were able to take two of the older victims out and then conducted the searches in the lower level where the children were reported. They were able to get the one out and the two, like I said, passed away."
The bodies of the family's two pet dogs were also found inside. The shocking tragedy reverberated Sunday throughout the community.
"It's a tragic loss we've had here today," Carpentersville Village President John Skillman said. "Just here to support the neighbors and families involved."
Skillman said the surviving child, though critical, appeared earlier to be responding to treatment at Loyola.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation with ATF and the State Fire Marshall brought in to help.
No further information was immediately available.