CHADBOURN, N.C. (WNCN) -- Crews are still at the scene early Saturday afternoon after a house fire left four children dead in Columbus County overnight, officials and reports said.

The fire was reported just after 2:30 a.m. Saturday at a home along Colony Road, about a mile northeast of Chadbourn, according to the Columbus News & Record, citing Columbus County Fire Marshal Shannon Blackman.

The first emergency worker to respond was a deputy with the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, who arrived about seven minutes after the initial report, Blackman told the newspaper.

As the deputy arrived, the home was engulfed in flames, according to the newspaper.

The children who died are between the ages of 2 and 7, the Columbus County News reported.

A photo from the News & Record showed two fire

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