Three-year-old Kate-Lynn crept downstairs the night before the fire that took the lives of her twin brother and sister, saying she felt sick and asking Mom and Dad to let her sleep with them.

Parents Rick Fleury and Lanora Baxter's rare indulgence saved their daughter's life Tuesday when the blaze rapidly engulfed their home on Kerry Crescent in Mackenzie at around 7:30 a.m.

"It definitely saved her life that she was downstairs," said grandmother Debbra Baxter. "The only window left in that house is their bedroom window in the basement."

The three were able to escape but 22-month-old twins Joseph and Gabriel were trapped in their second-floor bedroom. RCMP said police, firefighters, parents and a civilian did everything they could to reach the twins upstairs but the flames were too aggressive.

"It hurts me to talk to them because all she wants is her babies back and it's the one thing I can't give her," Baxter told CTV News, referring to her daughter.

She recalled comforting her granddaughter when Kate-Lynn realized she had lost her baby brother and sister.

"She said ‘Daddy OK, Daddy OK?'. And then she looked at me and said ‘Gabby and Joey not ok'."

A coroner's report confirmed that the toddlers' bodies were found in their cots and had died of smoke asphyxiation – a small comfort, Baxter said, when mother Lanora thought she had heard a baby crying.

Emergency staff took parents and Kate-Lynn to the Mackenzie District Hospital after the fire and both were treated for smoke inhalation. Fleury was in the worst condition but was released Wednesday.

Baxter said her daughter's family has their physical health but emotionally the loss will be difficult as the twins' second birthday approaches on Feb. 22.

Mackenzie Mayor Stephanie Killam said the close-knit community of 4,000 can be counted on for support.

"I think it already started when people nearby tried to get into the house to try to save the two little kids," Killam said.

Mackenzie residents gathered at Baxter's home on Wednesday trying to cope with the tragic loss.

"This fire really hit the town," said the children's great uncle Barry Baxter. "It didn't just hit a family, it hit a whole community".

The cause of the blaze is still unknown and an investigation is ongoing.

The Scotiabank branch in MacKenzie has set up a trust fund for the family, who did not have insurance, and donations can be made at any Scotiabank location in B.C.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat.