CANTON, Ohio -- A house fire that killed seven people started when candles ignited a Christmas tree that some of the victims had decorated hours earlier, fire investigators said Wednesday.

The fire was accidental, and the tree had fallen over earlier in the night, fire inspector Jack Phifer said.

"There was no obvious sign of any foul play," he said.

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Lisa Rowley, the mother of two girls who died in the fire, said outside the house Wednesday that candles were burning about four feet from the fresh-cut tree.

A group of friends and family decorated the tree Monday evening when it fell over the first time, tipping away from the candles, said Rowley, who was out for drinks with her boyfriend when the fire started.

"We just put it up, and it fell down," she said. "We picked it back up and decorated it again."

Fire inspectors said they think the occupants may have tried to put the fire out themselves before calling for help.

Inspectors believe the fire started about 3:30 a.m. but the first emergency call didn't come until 4:06 a.m. Firefighters arrived at 4:12 a.m.

Survivors told inspectors that some occupants had been drinking during the evening. Inspectors say the drinking likely hurt people's ability to react to the fire.

The tragic fire, the worst Canton has seen in decades, killed three adults and four children.

The fire broke out on Roslyn Avenue near 14th Street around 4 a.m. Tuesday. That is just blocks from a fire station.

City spokesman George Davis said the first floor of the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. He said they had to knock down the flames before they were able to enter.

"As they were fighting the fire on the first floor, other firefighters used ladders to go to the second floor windows to find four of the victims upstairs, bringing them out to safety," Davis said.

Fire Chief James W. Scott Jr. called the fire the worst in Canton in terms of fire fatalities in at least the last 40 years.

Cally Gross, 4, Katlin Cavanaugh, 7 weeks, Leigha Gross, 10, Dale Gross, 34, Jerry Knight, 9, and Donald Knight, 43, were killed Tuesday. Nicole Cavanaugh, 21, was taken to Akron Children's Hospital, but died overnight.

A fire investigator said one of two adults who lived in the house wasn't home at the time. He said the family had just put up the Christmas tree as they decorated the home for the holidays.

The resident also told investigators that he kicked in the front door when he arrived at the house and yelled for those inside, but he couldn't get into the structure because of the flames, heat and smoke.

Battalion Chief Raymond Harple said firefighter and paramedics worked harder than he had witnessed in his more than 27 years on the department to douse the flames and rescue the victims, who were trapped on both the first and second floors.

He said firefighters using ladders went through upstairs windows in the thick smoke to find four victims on the second floor. Two others were found in a first-floor hallway off the living room. The seventh was found near the foot of the stairs.

Two hours after the fire was reported, hot spots were still being uncovered as crews searched through the rubble for more victims, as well as evidence.

The first three confirmed dead were all found on the first floor, said Harple, who said there weren't any smoke alarms found in the residence.

Those confirmed dead were taken to Doctors Hospital in Perry Township where the Stark County Coroner's Office is located. Three others were taken to Aultman and one was taken to Mercy Medical Center.

Firefighters at the scene, as well as Safety Director Joseph J. Concatto, a retired Canton fire chief, said the worst fire they can recall in terms of deaths occurred on July 4, 1988, when a family of five perished in an arson fire on Mahoning Road NE.

On Dec. 18, 2000, just a week before Christmas, several firefighters at this morning's scene, including Harple, battled a deadly house fire on Louisiana Avenue NW, just north of 12th Street NW, where two children and an adult were killed in a blaze.