SAVANNAH, Tenn. — The Hardin County community is heartbroken after a family of four died in a house fire Sunday, Jan. 14.
A mother, father and two young children under the ages of ten didn’t make it.
A note that reads “We love you forever” along with bright purple flowers sit feet away from the charred and dark scene.
“There are no words. I mean, it’s just surreal,” family friend Lisa Maslar said.
Maslar was good friends with Jamie and Robyn Franks who lived in the house on Highway 203 in Savannah, TN.
On Sunday morning. a neighbor called fire officials around 1:20 a.m. to tell them it was on fire.
The Franks, along with their 9-year-old Brody and 3-year-old Josie, were trapped inside.
“It’s tragic. Everybody’s just heartbroken,” said Fire Chief Melvin Martin with the Hardin County Fire Department.
The chief says there are three bedrooms on one side of the house, and the couple and two kids were asleep in two of them.
He says the roof collapsed and flames engulfed the home, making it impossible to enter right away.
“It’s a tragic and sad situation for all the families involved and the firefighters responding. There was nothing they could do, so that makes it harder for our guys,” Chief Martin said.
The tight knit community is now heartbroken over the loss.
Many are saying Robyn was was a creative, sweet-soul with a knack for photography.
Related: Family of four killed in Hardin County house fire
And like her husband Jamie, she was a hard-worker.
People said Jamie worked multiple jobs and never complained.
“I know it’s hard to comprehend, but there’s just not a better family than them,” Maslar said.
Donations are starting to pour in for funeral arrangements and for two children Jamie leaves behind.
Community members say they want to support a family that would always be there for everyone else.
“They would help anybody,” Maslar said. “They would help you if you were stranded. They would be the first to be there.”
Fire officials aren’t sure what caused the fire, but they do believe it was accidental.
