A father and his adult son died, and a third person was critically injured, after a fire broke out at a home in northwest suburban Streamwood, Illinois early Tuesday morning.

Streamwood Fire Chief Mike Meyer said crews responded to the fire where people were trapped in the home in the 1200 block of North Green Meadows Boulevard just after 1:15 a.m.

Firefighters from multiple departments battled heavy smoke and used ladders to gain access to the two-story house. Meyer said the fire started in the basement.

After putting out the flames, firefighters located three people inside the home. They were rescued and taken to local hospitals, all in critical condition. Two of the victims later died.

The third victim remains in critical condition, fire officials said. The victims who died were identified by village officials as 74-year-old Dale Wians and 29-year-old Brandon Wians. Neighbors said they are father and son. 

"I was like, no it can't be. It can't be. It can't be. It's heartbreaking. Again, we literally saw them a few days ago," said neighbor Abel Escobar. "We're sad, because we see these neighbors every couple of days, walking around, taking their morning walks and evening walks."

The identity of the injured person was not released. 

Neighbors are devastated by the loss, saying the family has been in Streamwood for nearly 27 years. Neighbor LeAnna Christensen said they were the kind of family that would give you the shirts off their own backs.

"You can't get a better family than this," she said. "It's really, it's devastating."

She said she's known the family — a husband, a wife and an adult son who uses a wheelchair — for years.

"I always had chocolate because Brandon's favorite thing was chocolate," said Christensen. "We had to give him chocolate."

Christensen said she heard a loud noise early Tuesday morning but thought it was thunder and shrugged it off. Another neighbor, Nigel Gillett, said he didn't hear anything except sirens.

"Middle of the night I heard the sirens and it woke me up. I heard two separate sirens. So it was multiple, but then I fell back asleep," he said. "I don't know. I was dead asleep. I didn't think much of it, but then watching the news this morning and seeing how close to home it was, it was shocking. Definitely shocking."

Fire officials said the home was badly damaged by the fire, and while the cause is still under investigation, they said they believe there was no foul play involved and it was likely an accidental fire.