MEYERSDALE – A house fire in Somerset County left three people dead and a community in mourning.

A broken heart was burned into the side of the house on Maple Valley Road.

"When I woke up this morning, I seen flames. And then firetrucks and everything came,” neighbor Melissa Frampton said. “All you could see was flashing lights clear up the hill, down the hill, up through here. It was a horrific scene."

It was horrific for neighbors, and especially family of the victims.

Janet Keyser got a call from officials at 4 a.m. that her daughter Lugene Albright didn't make it.

She didn't want to believe the news--then saw the aftermath on TV.

"My grandson's girlfriend called and she said 'Grandma,' she said, 'I'm at the house,' and she said, "It's really, really bad. It's really, really bad. She said they didn't get out,'" Keyser said.

Albright and her son Jimmy Christner, who they called JJ, and his girlfriend Sara Bottorff were all killed.

Keyser says her daughter was the middle child with two brothers.

And she said to those in Meyersdale, she was like the neighborhood mom. Anybody who needed anything knew they could count on her.

"She taken in more kids than you can ever imagine, to raise and keep and take care of. JJ was one of those children,” Keyser said. “He was left on her door with his sister when he was 7 years old."

Keyser said her daughter had health issues, cancer four years ago and also marriage issues. She said her daughter was planning to see a divorce attorney this week. Through it all, they were there for each other.

"We were really close, really close. And you know, we just shared good times and bad times with each other,” Keyser said. “And when she'd call me she'd always say, 'Ah beautiful lady. This is your bad daughter calling you.’"

Officials don't know the cause just yet, but Keyser still has a lot of questions.

"I have a lot of concern about the whole situation now. I guess it's just a mom's job to be that way, but I just, in my heart, I have a lot of heartache over the whole thing," Keyser said.

And neighbors feel the pain as well.

"We're a short, small town. Everyone knows each other. Everyone cares about each other. And it's just heartbreaking,” Frampton said.

Officials are still investigating, trying to determine the cause and origin of the fire.

And Keyser says she hopes the investigation will reveal how it happened and bring closure.

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