JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: We begin in Delaware, where a small fire at a house in a rural Sussex county killed everyone inside: 11 members of one family. Officials say the victims spanned three generations and included seven children. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire. National correspondent Bob Franken is covering the aftermath in Oak Orchard. Bob, what can you tell us?</s>BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in addition to the seven children -- they were aged nine and under -- there was a grandmother, a mother, and two aunts. All perished in a fire that was reported about 3:00 a.m. Eastern. By the time emergency crews got here, the home was engulfed in flames. They were able to get out five of the children, tried CPR, raced them to the hospital, but were not successful. Officials believe that the fire started in the kitchen. They're doing an investigation, focusing on the possibility of smoke inhalation, that is very preliminary. They're not giving out any IDs right now, for a couple of reasons, the main one being that they're still trying to determine the identification of those who were inside. Now, this is an area of Delaware that gets near the beach resort area, but it's also an area has huge chicken processing plants. We have no idea yet whether the members of this family were involved in that occupation. But we do know, according to officials, that the report on the fire came from the house. So they were are a little bit surprised when they got here that there was absolutely no way to save anybody from the house itself. Now, inside the house is completely charred, although as you can see over my shoulder, it doesn't look like there was very much damage inside, which is another thing that is leading to an investigation that a smoking -- that is focusing on smoke inhalation. No information -- certain information -- whether there was a smoke detector in there. Ironically, yesterday, the county counsel here passed legislation requiring smoke detectors in new homes -- Jeanne.</s>MESERVE: Bob Franken, in Delaware, thank you.
Delaware House Fire Kills 11