The Mercer County Coroner's Office says five people, including children, died in a fire that happened early Wednesday morning, March 27, 2013.
Fire was reported in a mobile home near the intersection of 300th Street and 140th Avenue south of Sherrard, Illinois.
The Mercer County Coroner's Office confirmed just before 7 a.m. there were multiple deaths in the fire, but they stopped short of identifying the people who perished.
Emergency workers were removing bodies from the burned home about an hour later.
Later in the morning, Mercer County Coroner Ron McNall said one adult woman and four children had perished in the fire. The oldest of the victim children was 15 years old.
McNall said an adult man and two boys escaped the fire. The man suffered burns.
A member of the Sherrard Fire Department said fire fully engulfed the mobile home.
The Viola and Coyne Center Fire Protection Districts trucked in additional water to help with the firefight.
News Eight photographer Anna Greene spotted two ambulances leaving the scene while crews were still there.There was no indication yet of whether there were patients in the ambulances.
The cause of the fire was not yet released. Firefighters remained at the fire scene after 11 a.m. Wednesday.
A church the family attended weekly was planning a prayer vigil Wednesday evening.
