2 children found dead after Massachusetts apartment fire

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Two children were found dead after a four-alarm fire at a Lawrence, Massachusetts apartment building early Tuesday morning, the state fire marshal said.

CBS Boston reports that the fire in the six-unit building on Kingston Street started around 3:30 a.m. and the triple-decker was quickly engulfed

Two boys, ages 4 and 10, were reported missing by their relatives.

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the children were found in a third floor bedroom. Firefighters were not able to get into the room because of the intensity of the heat and flames there.

One firefighter was hurt.

Coan said there were working smoke alarms and heat detectors in the triple-decker house and they helped alert residents.

But some told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 they were woken up by neighbors' hollering outside.

"I just heard a guy walking down the street screaming 'your house is on fire, your house is on fire, get out' and he woke us up," one resident said.

There is no word yet on a cause.

It's believed the fire started in the back of the building.

A relative told WBZ the 4-year-old boy was planning to celebrate his fifth birthday this coming Sunday.