A family of four was killed Monday when an explosion that shook a northeast Ohio neighborhood caused their house to catch fire, leaving parts of the building completely destroyed, officials said.
The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. on Monday when the house inexplicably exploded and caught fire. Responding firefighters arrived on the scene shortly after the blast to find the house completely engulfed in flames, reported the Associated Press. They searched for survivors, but were only able to find the bodies of the four people who once resided in the house - three on the first floor near the front of the house and one on the first floor near the back.
An autopsy needed to be performed due to the state the bodies had been left in from the explosion and subsequent fire, soon revealing the identities of two of the victims: Jeffery and Cynthia Mather, both 43-year-olds from Northfield Center Township. Their daughters, aged 8 and 12, have yet to be identified.
Investigators are treating the deaths as homicides after being unable to find any indicators of the explosion being linked to a gas leak, according to CBS' Clevland affiliate WOIO-TV.
Neighbor's spoke to local media about the fire.
"There was a lot of fire, a lot of debris," said Randy Nickschinski, noting that he and his son, Nate, went to the house and kicked in the front door in an attempt to find the family. The family dog escaped, but no one answered when they called for the family.
"We were yelling, and nothing. We were just looking everywhere," he added, according to CBS News.
Nickschinski's daughter, Danielle, said she babysat for the two girls. "They were very outgoing and nice," she said. "They always wanted to play."