The fire at The Tudor Village Townhouses and Apartment complex was called in at 4:46 a.m. when a village police officer on routine patrol spotted smoke.
The officer found the two apartments "totally engulfed in flames" when he got closer, said Seneca Falls Police Chief Fred Capozzi.
John and Laurie Adams, and infant daughter, Abigail, died. They had just moved into the apartment a few weeks ago. A retired couple, Leo and Regina Prayne, also died. The ages of the victims were not immediately available.
"This is the worst fire and worst loss of life I've ever seen," said Capozzi, who has been an officer for 30 years.
There are 70 apartments in the complex. The fire occurred in one of the two-story buildings in the complex. The two apartments were gutted, Capozzi said.
Firefighters and police remained on the scene and were trying to determine what started the fire and where it originated.
Phyllis Bartz, a neighbor, said she was up early Tuesday watching television when she heard the sirens and looked out the window to see the sky lit up by flames. She said she saw a man collapsed in the entrance to both apartments.
"You know the way the sky is red at night -- that's the way it was," Bartz said.
Seneca Falls is 50 miles west of Syracuse.
