Wednesday was the first day Youngstown firefighters who were on the scene of a deadly fire went back to work. Seeing death firsthand changes people and firefighters are no different.
Flames claimed the lives of five children stuck in a Parkcliffe Avenue house Sunday night.
The firefighters have a mandatory 48-hour break from work. They're still very emotional and their feelings are raw, but they're working to find peace with what happened.
"One's a tragedy. Five is unfathomable," Captain Fred Deluca said.
Deluca has been fighting fires for decades.
"I've been to more fatal fires than I'd like to mention. This was a tough one," he said. "With how young the kids were, I don't think anything can really prepare you for that."
Deluca, his men and the ladder crew were the first ones to go inside the flame-engulfed home.
"While we were attempting to put out the fire, they were already in the house going up the stairs to the second floor, trying to rescue the children," Deluca said.