Tragedy struck Spearfish after a fire turned deadly early Saturday morning.

Officials say 5 children lost their lives in the fire during what was believed to be a sleepover. And it left the community in shock.

Claire Ringelspaugh, a witness, said "It was very scary. You could smell it. And the noises were probably the scariest part. You could hear people screaming. You could hear the firefighters yelling. You could still hear smoke alarms going off and the fire popping."

A quiet night quickly changed after Claire looked out the window to flames across the street.

Ringelspaugh said "It just gave you this really heart wrenching - like your heart was sinking down. It was not good."

Flames took over the home off Ames Street and a bad situation turned to horror - after witnesses found out 5 children between 6 and 11 years-old were trapped inside.

Ringelspaugh said "I started crying."

Saturday morning, the community woke up to the sad news as crews continued to investigate.

Ringelspaugh said "And everything is just quiet, it's very quiet."

Reports of the fire came in around 4:30 this morning - but firefighters arrived to the multi-family home fully engulfed in flames.

Chief Mark Sachara, with the Spearfish Fire Department, said "They did what they could. But with the volume of fire there was just no way they could get in to perform a search."

Crews battled the fire for more than an hour before putting it out.

Chief Sachara said "It was a stubborn fire. It was difficult to get to because the roof had already started to collapse in the center. We just couldn't put firefighters inside."

Some of the children were upstairs and an unknown number of adults inside were taken to the hospital, but their condition is unknown at this time.

Officials are working with the American Red Cross to help the families involved.

Lt. Boyd Dean, with the Spearfish Police Department, said "Someone once said from the horror of tragedy comes the best of humanity. And what we saw this morning is an unspeakable horror. But some extreme professionalism from our law enforcement, absolutely from our firefighters and our medical personnel."

Officials are still working to identify the victims ... and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Chief Sachara said "Truly a tragedy that's affected the community, especially a small community like Spearfish, but the support this morning has been truly amazing."

So far, we know Mountain View Baptist Church in Spearfish is taking donations for one family that has come forward and has lost everything.

They're looking for:

Crib, car seat, clothes, diaper bag, diapers, wipes, monitor, pump, swing, bouncer, bottles, blankets, bedding, hampers, dressers, toy box, tooth brushes, tooth paste, notebooks, and PJ's

Check their website for more info.