INVERNESS, Ill. (CBS) -- Two people were found dead late Sunday in a house fire in northwest suburban Inverness.

Firefighters from neighboring Palatine were called to 219 Bradwell Rd. in Inverness just before 6 p.m.

They arrived to find flames coming from the back of the house.

A couple believed to be in their 80s did not make it out.

A neighbor spoke to the victims earlier in the day and had planned to have them over later.

"It was a devastating loss for all of us," said neighbor Tom Kennedy. "I'm still, I guess, in a little bit of a state of shock. I just can't accept it. You're talking to him - an hour later, you find out he died."

There was no word on the cause of the fire late Sunday. The fire chief said aside from firefighters having to crawl over a few snowbanks, the weather was not a factor in fighting the fire.