Christmas tree fire kills three members of Pennsylvania family

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Christmas tree catches fire - three dead
Tragedy in the US city of Quakertown. While a family is sleeping in their house, a fire breaks out on the Christmas tree. For the father and his sons, any help comes too late.
A father and his two sons have died in a fire at their home in the US state of Pennsylvania. The cause of the fire was still open, but the fire may have been caused by a Christmas tree, according to US media reports.
The fire broke out in the area of the tree on Saturday night. "At the moment, we are assuming that the Christmas tree has ignited, which may be due to the Christmas lights on this Christmas tree," Scott McElree, the police chief of Quakertown, told CBS. But the fire service said it was still unclear whether the lights had been on the tree.
The first rescue workers who arrived at the scene of the accident initially had problems entering the house. "It was too dangerous to get to the front of the building with the fire," Fire Inspector Doug Wilhelm told CNN. "The front door and the front window were blocked, the fire spread to the entire house at that time. It was very difficult for the fire brigade to enter safely. It took a while."
All five family members had been sleeping on the second floor when the fire broke out. The emergency services were only able to recover the bodies of the 41-year-old father and the two sons, who went to the third and fifth grades. The mother and the eldest son of the family were able to save themselves and suffered minor burns. According to CNN, two dogs also died in the fire.
"This news is heartbreaking for the district and all of Quakertown," the school community wrote. A donation website was set up - by Saturday evening (local time), more than 300,000 US dollars, about 265,000 euros, had been raised.