SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Two children are hospitalized in serious condition after a fire broke out at a home in Cedar Grove early Thursday morning.

Firefighters were called to the home in the 200 block of W. 78th Street just before 6 a.m. after a neighbor called to report smoke coming from the house.

Shreveport Fire Department Assistant to Fire Chief Clarence Reese says three children and two adults were inside the home when the fire broke out. When both the adults and three of the children got outside, they realized two were missing.

That’s when the father tried to go back in and get them and was injured in the process.

When firefighters arrived, they were able to rescue the children by taking them out through a window. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition after suffering from smoke inhalation.

The father was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries after suffering cuts and bruises from the attempted rescue.

Shreveport Fire Department Assistant to Fire Chief Clarence Reese says it took 43 firefighters 25 minutes to get the blaze under control, but the home was left uninhabitable.

Reese says Shreveport Fire Chaplains, American Red Cross, Fire Recovery Ministries (First Baptist Shreveport),
and Signal 51 were contacted to assist the family and firefighters with immediate needs.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.