An early morning fire Wednesday in Nevada has left three dead.

Samantha Opperman, 28, and her two children, Caitlyn, 6, and Carter, 2, were taken to the Story County Medical Center after the fire but were later pronounced dead. Opperman’s husband, Chip, works the night shift at an Ames business and was not in the home at the time of the fire.

Emergency crews responded to a 911 call placed from inside the house at 3:48 a.m. about a house fire at 1116 K Ave., said Nevada Police Chief Michael Tupper.

The occupants could not exit the house in time, said Nevada Fire Chief Dana Wipperman, because the fire blocked their exit.

“They were upstairs and there was one exit, which was blocked by the fire downstairs,” he said.

Tupper said although the structure is still standing, there was extreme damage to all areas of the house.

“It was a total loss,” he said.

The State Fire Marshall’s Office was called in to assist in investigating the fire, but no evidence has been found to suggest foul play, Tupper said.

“We do not know the exact cause of the fire, but we have found no evidence to suggest this was a suspicious fire or intentionally set,” he said. “It’s still an active investigation.”

Wipperman said they are still looking at any and all possibilities and eliminating theories as they go.

He said he doesn’t know how long the investigation will take, but said he “feels very comfortable this was an accidental fire.”

So far this year he has received 170 fire calls, he said, but the last fatality in a fire in Nevada occurred in the 1980s.