WEBSTER, Texas --
Two children died when their Webster apartment complex caught fire on Thursday.
About 75 firefighters from several departments battled the two-alarm blaze at the Skylar Pointe Apartments on El Camino Real near El Camino Village Drive at about 4:45 a.m.
Investigators said Christian Novak, 8, and Kaitlyn Novak, 12, were killed in the blaze.
The children's mother, Dana Novak, escaped with her 5-year-old son, Nathaniel, fire officials said. The mother suffered minor injuries and Nathaniel was hospitalized. Officials said he was in critical condition and on life support.
"She brought out one and the fire was so intense," Webster Fire Chief Patrick Shipp said. "She tried to get in, that's why she got burns and smoke inhalation. She tried to get back in and couldn't."
Detectives said a fourth child, 4-year-old Nicholas Novak, escaped the fire with minor injuries.
The family was asleep when the fire stated, officials said.
Firefighters rescued several other residents from the blaze, as well as a few pets.
All five units in the building were destroyed, fire officials said. Three of them were occupied.
Shipp said the apartments were built in the 1970s and did not have fire walls. He said the fire appeared to have spread through a common attic.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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