A fire early Thursday morning in Waterloo has taken the lives of two children and a number of pets, according to firefighters with the Waterloo Fire Department. The kids mother remains hospitalized.

Firefighters were called to a home at 1815 Commercial Street in Waterloo, just before 4 a.m. Thursday. Two people driving by saw a girl and dog outside the home. She had apparently escaped the fire by climbing out her bedroom window. Melvin Lancaster, one of the people in the vehicle told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier,

She was standing out here hollering ‘help.’ She said little kids and an adult was upstairs, and her dad wasn’t home.

The people in that vehicle called 911 to alert fire officials. CPR was administered on the scene by firefighters before the mother and two children were taken to an area hospital. The ages and identities of the three have not been released at this time. The children have died from their injuries, while their mom is still in the hospital. The father arrived home as fire officials worked to extinguish the blaze.

KWWL reports there were 13 animals in the home at the time of the fire, five of which died. Three dogs, a cat, and a puppy were killed. The remaining animals are being housed at the Cedar Bend Humane Society.

The house was destroyed by the fire, which remains under investigation.

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