Two children, a brother and sister who were 6 and 1 years old, reportedly died after they were stuck on the second floor of their burning home in Orange, New Jersey Friday night.

The devastating fire broke out around 8:45 p.m. Friday, authorities said, and children had to jump from windows to escape the blaze.

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Seven others, including the children's mother, managed to escape the fire safely, but the two little children failed to get out alive.

The three-story house, which was owned by one family, was razed to the ground, with nothing much left.

Why the two children were left inside the burnign house was still being investigated, although sources said escaping the burning home was not easy.

One neighbor, who rescued one little boy, said a girl threw her brother out to get off the burning house. The neighbor caught the boy.

"When I saw the smoke and the fire, I immediately ran towards the house and saw people on the upstairs window. I told them to jump but they did not. One girl threw a little boy off the window. Good thing I was able to catch the little boy," said the neighbor.

When firefighters arrived, the home was already fully engulfed in flames. The frigid cold Friday night also made it particularly difficult for firefighters to battle the conflagration.

"Our firefighters are out here. We've called neighboring towns as well. It's particularly tough when you have frozen pipes, and the water freezes basically on impact, and so it's good that we have a rotation of firefighters going in and out of the unit," Mayor Dwayne Warren said Friday night.

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation. The identity of the family that occupied the house was not immediately disclosed.

TagsOrange New Jersey Fire, New Jersey Fire