Four people were killed in a house fire overnight in East Liverpool, according to city fire officials.

Fire Chief William Jones said firefighters responded to a call about 12 a.m. Saturday at 941 Vine Street. He said when they arrived at the scene, the house was fully engulfed in flames with the possibility of people trapped.

"They found the house fully involved. They attempted to make an entry," said Jones. "They got in as far as the one bedroom to their initial entry, however,they weren't able to get any farther."

A father in his late 30s  and his three sons, ages 11, 8, and 5,were all trapped inside the house. Jones said it was a traumatic situation for everyone, including his firefighters.

"They're actually hard on themselves because they did try to make an entry, and they were unable to," said Jones. "Then you have three children, it's bad enough with an adult but when you have three children ... Ihad some firefighters who were here today that have children who were the same age as the children inside. It's doubly tough on them."

Jones said three state fire marshal investigators were called out this morning to investigate.

"We have no conclusions. We're looking at every different angle we can, so we can get the correct story."

Fire officials said they aren't releasing the names of the victims for now. Stay with NEWS9, WTOV9.com and WTOV9 Mobile for continuing coverage.