Teen arrested over deaths of children in house fire at mother's birthday party Detective Chief Inspector Neil Esseen, from Lancashire Police, said: "I can confirm that this fire is now being treated as suspicious. We are following a number of lines of inquiry and have spoken with a number of people who were at the house on the night in question. However, I would still urge anybody who has any information which they believe could assist us with our investigation to come forward. The fire was largely contained in just one of the house' bedrooms as the building showed few external signs of fire damage. It is thought that at least some of the casualties were taken from a small attic-room at the rear of the converted building. Miss Smith was said to have been helped from her home, in Freckleton, Lancashire, by firefighters, but was uninjured. The four children were taken to hospital in Preston suffering from smoke inhalation but were pronounced dead on arrival. Miss Smith's father Keith Smith, 56, told how he learned of the fire on the news and rushed round to the house, only to learn of the deaths of four of his grandchildren. Mr Smith said: "I turned on the news and heard there had been a fire at a house in Lytham Road. I turned cold and knew it was Michelle's house. I rushed down here straight away, all the time wishing it wasn't going to be true. But when I got here my worst nightmare came true. When I got here I could see it was. My heart sank and my blood drained. I'm still trying to take it all in. They were smashing kids. The last time I saw them was at Christmas. They had moved into the house about two-and-a-half years ago and seemed very happy there. I'm still in shock. It is devastating news. It was my daughter's 36th birthday. How it could all end like this is terrible ... so-so terrible. Miss Smith has nine children in total. Her father added: "She was a caring mum with a caring family. Two have four of you children die like this ... I don't know what it will do to her. One of Miss Smith's other children, 20-year-old Andy Smith, arrived to see fire fighters at his mother's home. Breaking down in tears, he said: "It was only when I came back in the morning that I was told four of my brothers and sisters had died. I had spent the whole night worrying. Another member of the family said: "The children's bedroom must have filled with smoke as the party carried on. When the alarm was raised some just ran but Reece died trying to save his brother and sisters.