RAMROD KEY, Fla. – A mother and two of her children were killed Sunday morning in a house fire in the Florida Keys, Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.
Robin Ferrer (pictured below), 46, died in the fire, along with her youngest children, Roman, 7, and Hazel, 5.
Ferrer's two teenage children tried to save the family with help from neighbors, but the fire and smoke spread too quickly.
Ferrer's daughter, Courtney Shores (pictured below), 19, escaped unharmed. Her brother, Jacob Shores, 18, was badly burned. He was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital. They are now dealing with the unimaginable loss.
All day, family friends and neighbors were stopping by to see what happened to the home on Anguila Lane. They left flowers to pay respects to the family.
"(It's) just scary," Tammy Sattley said. "I mean, it could've been me."
Tammy Sattley and her husband, Don Sattley, came to see the damaged home. The couple had lived in the home less than two years ago.
"(It's) so sad. It is so sad and it could've been preventable," Tammy Sattley said.
Calls for help came around 12:30 a.m. Sunday, but the house was fully engulfed by the time help arrived. Neighbor Gay Hall said the bright flames caught her attention.
"We just stood here and watched the fire burn and had to stay here because our houses are so close," Hall said. "It's an unspeakable thing to happen in a family."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the Sattleys said the home's smoke detectors never worked when they lived there and fear the tragedy could have prevented.
"They were built into the wall and it was just an empty case hard-wired into the house," Tammy Sattley said. "I'm like, 'This is mandatory. You need to have this in the house,' and they were not there."
"Was a tragedy, a terrible tragedy," Hall said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help Courtney and Jacob Shores deal with the loss of their mother and siblings. Click here if you would like to donate to assist in funeral, medical and living expenses.