4 Children, 2 Adults Killed in Wisconsin Apartment Fire

Six people have died following an apartment fire in a suburb of Milwaukee, according to officials.

The Village of Hartland Police Department identified the victims of Friday’s fire on Mansfield Court as four children and two adults in a news release on Sunday.

Connor McKisick and Jessica McKisick were the two adult victims killed as a result of the blaze, the department said. A 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl and a pair of 3-year-old boys also died from the fire.

Arrowhead Union High School Superintendent Laura Myrah identified the 14-year-old victim as Natalie Kleemeier in a letter to parents obtained by FOX affiliate WITI.

“This is an absolute tragedy,” Hartland Village President Jeffrey Pfannerstill said after the blaze, according to CBS affiliate WDJT-TV. “It’s a sad day for Hartland. It’s going to take some time to sift through all of this.”

Friday’s fire was reported to officials just after 5 a.m., according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. First responders helped multiple individuals escape the four-family apartment building, with 15 fire departments and nine police departments responding to the scene.

Hartland Fire Department chief Dave Jambretz told ABC affiliate WISN-TV that Friday’s blaze was the worst he’d responded to in 29 years on the job.

“It didn’t really hit me until I saw my first three or four crews in the grass over there with blank stares, just they were just gone. These are heroes,” Jambretz explained. “They go into buildings like this, their full jobs are in their community, so it was tough.”

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Police originally believed seven people had died in the fire, according to NBC News. Officials later determined that only six fatalities had occurred upon investigation, WDJT-TV reported.

Hartland Police Chief Torin Misko suggested that the fire may have been intentionally set, per the outlet. In Sunday’s release, the department said “there is no danger to the community.”

Hartland police are working with the Waukesha County Medical Examiner’s Office to investigate the incident, according to the department’s release.

A small vigil was held for the victims Friday evening, per the Sentinel‘s report.

In Sunday’s letter to parents, Myrah said 14-year-old Natalie was a freshman “who was known as a quiet but funny young woman who cared for those around her,” according to WITI.

Counseling has been made available for students and staff, Myrah added. (The superintendent did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.)

“The entire Arrowhead High School community is deeply saddened by this untimely event,” Myrah wrote, per the report. “Natalie was a student who was friends with and made positive connections with many Arrowhead students and staff members.”

The residents living the the three other units are receiving help from The Red Cross while displaced from their home, according to WISN-TV.