By BRUCE SCHREINER

Associated Press

JONANCY, Ky.

--Relatives gathered around a still-smoldering home Wednesday to remember four children and their father who died in an early-morning blaze in rural eastern Kentucky. While dealing with the incomprehensible loss, the mourners vowed to support the mother, who survived with serious burns.

A relative who lives nearby said she woke up early Wednesday to find the house engulfed.

"There was nothing I could do, I got second-degree burns just getting close to it," said Glema Blair, the children's great-aunt.

The five bodies were found in the small home's living room, where the family had been sleeping near an electric space heater, said Pike County Coroner Russell Roberts.

The fire in southern Pike County began about 2:30 a.m., state police Trooper Tony Watts said.

Near the charred remnants of the home were a swing set and a tricycle.

Blair identified the children as 5-year-old Dakota Lee; 4-year-old Tyler Lane; 2-year-old Cheyenne and Emily, who was 6 months old. She said she watched the kids often and that they loved to play outside and watch TV together.

"They were good kids, you couldn't ask for no better," Blair said.