From her home, she could see the broken windows and the firefighters removing debris.

But the basements on Morningstar Road were flooded and firefighters removed the water with pumps.

Rescue workers and firefighters were still removing bodies from the series of brick and cinder block buildings well into the afternoon.

The victims, described by the police as elderly, appeared to have been dead when firefighters removed them from the house at 46 Marlene Drive, Officer Bill Bendel said.

When firefighters removed the children from the bedroom, both were suffering from smoke inhalation and were in cardiac arrest.

The other car also had a passenger who firefighters removed from the vehicle moments later, injured but alive.

Damaged when distraught firefighters removed them from the wall for safekeeping, the boards were restored by the Met's conservation department and placed in hermetically sealed frames.

"This is the saddest day in the 100-year history of the Fire Department," Chief O'Hagan said as the firefighters gathered around him and removed their helmets.

Police officers and firefighters removed portions of the platform to eliminate any hazard, fire officials said.

Mr. McGroary said the ride's mechanism had been jammed by a fallen light fixture that firefighters easily removed.