Fire kills five children: Mum jumped from window and screamed for help

Stuffed animals rest against a pole at a makeshift memorial after a deadly fire in Youngstown, Ohio. Photo / AP

A neighbour says an anguished mother was naked and bleeding when she appeared at his door screaming for help to save her five children from a late-night fire swallowing their Ohio home.

Fire officials in Youngstown say the woman jumped from a second-floor window and was the only survivor of the blaze that killed the children, who ranged in age from 1 to 9. They included 1-year-old twins.

Neighbour Aaron Baldwin says he awoke when the distraught woman banged on his door, yelling about her kids.

Baldwin says by then the house across the street was engulfed in flames, with no way for neighbours to rush inside.

Baldwin, a father of five, describes the scene as "the worst thing you have to see".

Investigators are trying to determine what caused the blaze.

Stuffed animals are piling up beneath colourful balloons in a makeshift memorial outside the Ohio home.

Youngstown Fire Captain Kurt Wright says the mother is in was hospital with injuries. He says no one else was in the home.

The Mahoning County coroner's office hadn't publicly identified the children as officials were working to notify relatives.

The damage was mostly on the home's first floor, leading them to believe the fire started there. Officials say there was no immediate sign that the fire was suspicious.

- AP