BELMONT, Wis. -- Corey Burgess ran back inside the burning home and scooped his little girl from the smoke-filled basement.

But after staggering toward a back door, Burgess collapsed with his 8-year-old daughter, Destiny, in his arms.

"They found her with her face up and he was over top of her, as though he was trying to protect her," Burgess' sister, Emily Moon, said.

Burgess, 38, and his daughter were killed when their Belmont home burned to the ground early Saturday. Moon said the family awoke before 4 a.m. to the fire and met outside. When Burgess realized his daughter wasn't there, he ran back inside.

"My brother was a true hero. He'll always be my angel," Moon said.

At least one other person, who wasn't related to the family, was injured in the fire. Moon said Burgess' wife, Roxanne, their 12-year-old son, a 5- or 6-year-old daughter and Roxanne's 18-year-old son made it out unharmed.

Authorities said the fire started in the southwest lower level of the split-level home. Moon said they believe it started in or

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near the bedroom of Roxanne's adult son. The son's friend was injured during the fire, she said. Belmont Police Chief Kurt Malott declined to release his identity, saying it was part of the investigation.

Moon said the man was being treated at a burn unit at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals in Madison.

Family members didn't know the injured man had been in the house until after the fire, Moon said.

"He had burns, but nobody, not my sister-in-law, nobody saw him come out of that house. So he had to have come out before anyone else did," Moon said.

Malott declined to say whether the fire was suspicious. The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation is assisting in the case. Late Sunday evening, Malott said he didn't know when additional information would be available. He didn't return a call Monday.

On Monday, the town of fewer than 1,000 people grappled with the aftermath. The Belmont Community School called in extra counselors to help grieving students deal with the third-grader's death. Family members made arrangements for a father-daughter funeral.

Moon said it was hard for her to be at home because Burgess, who worked in construction, had been working on her new house near Platteville.

"I see him everywhere. From the insulation that he put up, to the poles he put up, to digging dirt. He's everywhere right now," she said. "It's hard to be at home."

Moon's mother-in-law, Suzi, walked up to the burnt house on Monday morning, surveying the damage. Behind a surviving front wall, the house appeared to be ripped apart.

"It just overwhelmed me. I could see Corey, in my head, running back and forth," she said.

Emily Moon said that if her brother had an opportunity to do it over again, he still would have gone into the house.

"His children were everything to him," she said. "He'd do it again."