‘Our entire world’: Brother and sister killed in fire at Pa. home

SEWICKLEY, Pa. (WPXI) - A fire broke out at a Pennsylvania home in the early morning hours, killing the two children who lived there.

Lyric Keys, 9, and her 6-year-old brother, Jack Wylde Lightner, were killed early Tuesday morning in a fire at their home in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

“They were amazing, smart, kind kids. They lit up every room they were in. They are our entire world,” said the children’s father, Robbie Linn.

Neighbor Tom Pastore says he saw flames coming from the house just before 3 a.m.

“I started hearing loud pops, sort of like fireworks, and then, I would hear screaming,” Pastore said. “I saw the house was on fire… My first thoughts were the children. They’re innocent, the little kids. I was praying for them.”

Firefighters were able to pull the siblings from the home, but they didn’t make it.

Their mother survived by jumping from the second floor. She suffered burns and is in the hospital.

“It’s a tragedy for a mother to lose her children,” Pastore said.

At a Tuesday night vigil, family friends remembered Lyric, who celebrated her 9th birthday just last week, as a little girl who always found the beauty in life. Her brother, Wylde, was nonverbal until recently, according to loved ones.

It’s unclear what sparked the fire, but Sewickley Fire Chief Shayne Quinn says he encourages everyone to check their smoke alarms and make sure they have working batteries.