A woodstove in the kitchen of a Warwick home ignited nearby combustibles, causing the fatal fire that took the lives of five people Saturday, fire officials said Thursday.

State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey, Warwick Fire Chief Ronald P. Gates and Warwick Police Chief David Shoemaker shared the cause of the fire Thursday.

Lucinda Seago, 42, and four of her children, ages 7, 9, 12, and 15, were killed in the fire. Her husband, Scott, and one child escaped the blaze alive.

"This is a small community of neighbors helping neighbors and our hearts are heavy with the loss the Seago family has suffered," Gates said.

The fire at 405 Richmond Rd. in Warwick was reported to the fire department at 12:45 a.m. Saturday. The single family home was fully engulfed in fire by the time firefighters arrived.

Local firefighters received support from 15 fire departments in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as two emergency medical service companies.

The home was located on a dirt road too narrow for more than one fire truck, officials said Thursday. Responding firefighters shuttled water in their pumpers from a pond nearby, efforts made more difficult by sub-zero temperatures that froze equipment.

"I know the men and women of the Warwick Fire Department and the mutual aid companies fought this fire with everything they had," Gates said.