PHOTOS: Four people are dead after a house fire in rural Monroe County Thursday evening.
The Sparta Area Fire District said they went to a call of a reported structure fire on Backtrail Road in the Town of Little Falls east of Melrose at 9:09 p.m. Thursday.
According to the Fire District in a release, the report was that a house was on fire with people trapped upstairs and unable to get out.
First responders, including Chief Mike Arnold and Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputies, attempted to get into the home but the heat, smoke and fire were too intense. The house was fully engulfed in flames. An exterior attack was made because of the size of the fire. After extinguishing the fire, crews began to search the home for victims. The search was made more difficult because the second floor had fallen to the first floor.