AS Mr John Shannon of Hampshire Fire Brigade surveyed the burnt out, semi detached home of the Good family in Southampton, neighbours described how the house was engulfed in a "horrendous fireball" early yesterday.
The fire killed four young children from the Good family
Terry (12), Alison (to), Nicola (8), and Patrick (6) were found in a first floor bedroom in the house on Sullivan Road. Their parents, Bev and Melvyn Good, and their sister Kelly (15), escaped by running into the back garden.
As neighbours spoke of the tragedy last night, they described attempts by Melvyn Good to get back into the house.
He was being held physically to stop him going back in," said one neighbour. Another spoke of "terrible, awful screaming". "I think it was a woman screaming, but there were children screaming too. They were wailing `Mummy, Daddy, help us please'," said Mr Jonathan Clifford. "The sound of those helpless little kids screaming for their lives will stay with me forever."
A crew of 16 firefighters arrived at the house at 2 a.m., but faced "great difficulty" entering the house, said Mr Shannon.
Another firefighter, Mr Dave Brewer, said he was confronted by balls of flame and intense heat.
"I was wearing breathing apparatus an crawled on my hands and knees until I found one of the bodies of the children in a back bedroom."
Mr Brewer, who was burnt on his neck and ear, said it felt "as if a blow torch had been held to my skin".
Some fire officers recounted the harrowing task they faced as they moved through the house. As they pumped water into a bedroom and then the hall, it quickly produced steam, they said, and at times it seemed as though the steam would prevent them from reaching the children.
"We searched every room to make sure there were no more people in the house. Our visibility was down to inches because of the steam from the water hoses, but when we got to the back bedroom there were four bodies on the floor. The children were already "dead," said one firefighter.
Mr and Mrs Good and 14 year old Kelly were brought to Southampton General Hospital with burns. Kelly Good was later transferred to the burns unit at Odstock Hospital in Salisbury.
Last night, Kelly Good's condition was described as "serious". Her parents are believed to have suffered "lesser injuries".
Hampshire police say there is no obvious reason why the fire started and are treating it as possible arson. A police spokeswoman, Ms Susan Rowling, said it was a most abysmal fire and the house sustained extensive damage".
"At this time, because of the damage to the house, we cannot even say where the fire started," Ms Rowling added. "But the signs are pointing to it starting on the ground floor."
Some local residents already believe they have the answers. Ms Melanie Gregory, who lives opposite the Good family, pointed to the letterbox and said: "Bev was screaming. She was outside her home and shouting, `My kids, my kids, I can't save my kids. Someone's poured petrol through the letterbox and set fire to it'."