Emergency crews rushed to the scene on Severson Avenue near James Street just before 1:30 a.m., when someone inside the home called 911 from a cell phone.
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A total of 10 people died in house fires across the state in all of 2015, according to the fire marshal.
Memphis Fire Services Director Gina Sweat said the responding firefighters were also “deeply touched” by the death toll.
Lt. Cooke says that grief counselors will be provided to the firefighters who assisted in putting out the fire.
Officials are trying to determine what caused the fire. Two other children died after being taken in extremely critical condition to a children’s hospital, Sweat said. The children, they said, ranged in age from 3 to 16.
The fire only burned 25 percent of the home.
Felecia Wallace, 34, told the AP that she has known the family since she was in elementary school.
Seven of the 10 family members died in the fire. The family said the father of the seven children had left to go to the store and when he came back, he saw the chaotic scene.
Mary Whitmore, sister of one woman who died in the fire, cried as she stood on the sidewalk outside the house.
Cook, a longtime firefighter, said he’s never seen that many victims in one location.
The wooden-frame home, which has a brick facade and bars on some of its windows and doors, is in a poor, working-class neighbourhood of south Memphis.
– Memphis Firefighters (@mffa1784) September 12, 2016Chief Sweat on our firefighters on the scene: “You could feel the heavy in their hearts”.
By early afternoon, people had started coming by the house offering prayer, condolences and food to family members.
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“Our whole city is in mourning for the loss of much of one family”, says Mayor Jim Strickland. “Nothing can truly prepare us for this heartbreaking event”.
