Five children killed in Michigan fire

SAGINAW, Mich., May 24 (UPI) -- Five children, ages 1- to 13-years-old and a man died Thursday when fire swept a house in Saginaw, Mich.

Saginaw interim Fire Chief Lathel Wise said that firefighters braved flames to rescue the victims, who were pronounced dead at a local hospital, The Detroit News reported.

The mother of the children escaped unharmed, said Wise.

The fire was reported by a passerby and there was no sound of smoke alarms.

"I didn't hear or see any smoke alarms," Wise said. "I asked the fire marshal to look for those during the investigation."

The cause of the blaze was still being determined.

Just days before the Saginaw fire, a 27-year-old pregnant woman and her three children were killed in a fire in Detroit.

The children's father had burns over 80 percent of his body.

That fire was caused by a barbecue grill, said Detroit fire officials.