FLORA, Ind. — Authorities have identified the four young sisters who were asleep in their bedrooms on the second floor and died Monday when a pre-dawn fire broke out in a home in a small central Indiana town.

Carroll County Coroner Jay Dee Cree said in a statement the victims died of asphyxiation caused by smoke inhalation. They were identified as:

• Kionnie Precious Welch, 5
• Kerriele Danyell McDonald, 7
• Keyara Janell Phillips, 9
• Keyana Latrice Davis, 11

The children’s mother remained unidentified and hospitalized from injuries suffered in the fire that authorities said started at 3:40 a.m. Monday. Her bedroom was on the first floor of the three-story home. Next-door neighbor Angela Francis said she awoke to the mother’s screams for help from outside the burning home.

The Indiana State Fire Marshal’s office said an investigation has yet to determine the cause of the fire or where it originated. Firefighters said the fire appeared to be concentrated on the first floor, with smoke spreading to the second floor where the sisters were asleep.

Assistant Fire Chief Derek Jackson from the neighboring Burlington, Indiana, Fire Department said it was “a fire that happened at night, people were sleeping and didn’t wake up in time.”

Carroll County Sheriff’s Deputy Drew Yoder, the first responder on the scene, suffered smoke inhalation and burns to forehead and hands in an effort to rescue the children from the second floor. He was airlifted to a special burn treatment hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was reported in stable condition.

Flora police officer Josh Disinger, who pulled Yoder from the home, was treated and released for smoke inhalation from a hospital in nearby Lafayette, Indiana.

All the victims attended Carroll Consolidated Schools in Flora, a community of less than 3,000 residents. The school district said grief counselors would be available Tuesday. School is not in session the rest of the week because of Thanksgiving.