He went to put out the fire and found ten dead members of his family

Three children and seven adults were killed in a house fire in the US state of Pennsylvania, and a firefighter called to the scene was terrified when he found the victims were members of his family.

Pennsylvania State Police have confirmed the names of six of the victims, but have not yet identified the youngest children, aged five, six and seven.

Harold Baker, a volunteer firefighter with a fire company in Neskopic, Pennsylvania, told the Associated Press that the dead were his son, daughter, father-in-law, brother and sister, three grandchildren and two other relatives.

He said that the three children who died - two boys and a girl - were not living at home, but were visiting for summer activities.

A criminal investigation was opened to determine the cause of the fire.

It is believed that the fire started on the balcony of the house, early Friday morning.

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