NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Word of the fire that claimed the lives of an Amish mother and her two young daughters traveled slowly through this rural community Saturday afternoon.

Because few of the Amish families use phones, it fell to 14-year-old Daniel L. Byler, a relative of the victims, to walk through the rain from farmhouse to farmhouse, knocking on each door to relate the tragic details.

Katie M. Kurtz, 31, and her daughters, Sally L. Kurtz, 8, and Anna L. Kurtz, 3, died in the kitchen of their white frame farmhouse off Route 208 in Lawrence County. State police are investigating the fire, which they believe started around 12:15 p.m. when Mrs. Kurtz tried to light the family's wood-burning stove.

Daniel, dressed in traditional Amish clothing -- straw hat, blue cotton coat with clasps rather than buttons, and knee-high black leather boots -- spread the news along Springhill Road, not far from the Kurtz family's home.

"Everyone else [in the family] is still down at the house," he said. "So I volunteered to do this."

He said the bodies of Mrs. Kurtz, who was the sister of his aunt, and her daughters were found in their first-floor kitchen, not far from the stove and a jug of kerosene. Mrs. Kurtz and her toddler, Anna, were near the door; Sally was nearby, he said.

The Kurtzes were part of a large community of Amish families who live, farm and work in businesses near New Wilmington, Volant and other nearby villages. Mrs. Kurtz and her daughters were among six people who lived in the house, Trooper Troy Steinheiser said.

Levi Kurtz -- Mrs. Kurtz's husband and the father of the two girls -- and two teenage nephews who also live there were not home when the fire erupted, the trooper said. The house did not have electrical service.

A passing motorist saw the flames in the house, which is set back nearly a mile from the road, and used a cell phone to call 911, Trooper Steinheiser said. But the motorist and an Amish person who also spotted the flames were unable to enter the house due to heavy smoke, he said.

"We believe it was pretty close to the time the fire started," he said. "We believe this was accidental pending a final finding of the fire marshal's office."

Daniel said he became aware of the fire when neighbors came running to his family's house just before 1 p.m. The neighbors grabbed benches and carried them to the Kurtz home so volunteer firefighters from New Wilmington and Volant could rest.

New Wilmington Fire Chief Gary Wagner said firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the kitchen in the front of the house and the flames went out from lack of oxygen. The outside of the house showed little external damage.

Later in the evening, neighbors and family members left the property, some in horse-drawn carriages, others crowded into pickup trucks.

Mr. Kurtz had been away for the day to fish at Shenango Lake near Sharpsville, Mercer County, and relatives had been unable to reach him for nearly two hours, Daniel said. Authorities did not release the identities of the victims until Mr. Kurtz arrived at the house, and Trooper Steinheiser said the members of the Amish community were asking to be left alone to grieve.

Funeral arrangements, which are incomplete, will be handled by the Smith Funeral Home in New Wilmington.

"They're just now dealing with the grief of what happened," Trooper Steinheiser said. "I know they're a tight-knit group. As far as how they will deal with this tragedy, I'm just not sure."

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