First responders go through training for fires where people are inside the house, but nothing really prepares them for real-life situations, especially when children are involved.
"That's not a natural sight for anybody to see," said Sault Ste Marie Fire Chief Ed Miller. "We take care of the people afterwards," Miller said. "Also, community outpouring of support is great. It's helpful. The amount of people that have called to make sure we are doing alright is great."
On Tuesday morning firefighters got a call just after 7:30 a.m. about a fire on Shallows Beach Avenue with four people possibly still inside the rented Airbnb.
Three children under the age of four and one adult are confirmed dead as a result of the blaze.
When police and firefighters arrived at the scene flames and smoke were visible.
"The smoke was so turbulent it was blowing debris south of the house. There were strong winds that morning that intensified the flames, heat and smoke," Miller said.
Those conditions were too dangerous for first responders to try to enter the structure.
"Your heart wants you to do something, but your head says nope, it's too late," Miller said while getting choked up.
The attack plan was to extinguish the fire as quickly as possible and start the search for any victims.
The fire was put out within an hour, but the house sustained enormous damage. After a search, the victims were found.
Now it's up to investigators to find out the cause of the fire and how the victims died.
"At this time, Sault Ste. Marie City Police and Fire Officials are investigating this fire together and are supported by the Michigan State Police and the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department as well. I know there are a lot of rumors out there, but it is under investigation," Miller said.
"We work together very well between the two of us. (Sault City Police) Chief Bierling handled our set up for our critical incident stress debriefing for our first responders for everybody who was on scene," Miller said.
"The city has services for our staff. We are keeping an eye on all those involved and affected by this. We made it a top priority," Police Chief Wes Bierling explained.
The investigation is expected to take a long time.
"Figuring out everything that may have happened even though we were not there, that takes time. Digging through debris and looking through everything, it takes time. It's a methodical process. We want to get it right the first time," Miller said.
The identities of the victims may not be officially known for a couple weeks or a month until autopsies are done and the investigation is complete.
The victims were Sault Ste. Marie residents.
"We don't want to guess, or throw darts at a dart board, we want to verify and guarantee who did, unfortunately, pass away in this fire," Bierling added. "We are putting all our resources into this investigation. We are all trying to make sense of this. I don't know if we ever will make sense of it."
