Jeremy Desel

KHOU-TV, Houston

EDNA, Texas — Five children are dead after a mobile home caught fire here Tuesday, authorities said.

Eight people were in the home when it erupted in flames at about 5 a.m. CT and the roof collapsed, according to the Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback. Three, including a father, mother and at least one child, were able to escape.

A family member identified the father as Johnny Hernandez Jr., 30. Hernandez was able to save the mother, Annabel Ortiz, 32, and their 4-year-old, Johnny Hernandez III, also known as "3J."

Two of the survivors were treated at the scene about 100 miles southwest of Houston, and Ortiz was taken to an area hospital, authorities said.

Among those dead is Noah Ortiz, 15, a sophomore at Edna High School and a football player who helped lead his team Friday to the area championship. Witnesses said Noah may have died going back into the home to try to save his siblings — Julian Ortiz, 13; Nicholas Ortiz, 9; Arianna Hernandez, 6; and Lilianna Hernandez, 5, who also perished.

"The timing of this incident is unbelievable, especially with Thanksgiving being this week," Superintendent Robert O'Connor of the Edna Independent School District told the Jackson County (Texas) Herald-Tribune here. The school in this town of about 5,700 residents has around 400 students.

The school canceled Tuesday night's basketball games so students can mourn, he said. Grief counselors also will be available at the high school.

The Texas State Fire Marshal's Office is investigating. A cause for the fire has not been determined.

A fire Monday morning in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, Texas, that killed three adults apparently started near a central heating unit, according to Pasadena Fire Marshal David Brannon.

The woman and her adult children in their 50s, whose names were not immediately released, lived among so much clutter that it prevented their escape from the one-story wood-frame home, he said, calling them hoarders who had been working with code-enforcement officials to clean up their property.

"The mobility problems that they had were trying to evacuate the house because of all of the obstructions that were in the way. We even had challenges getting in there to fight the fire," Brannon said.

The body of the mother in her 70s was in a bathroom, he said. Her son was found dead in a hallway. Her daughter's body was in a back bedroom of the house that did not have smoke detectors.

Contributing: The Associated Press