Hundreds of mourners packed a church in an eastern Ontario community today for the funeral of a woman and her three children who died in a house fire a week ago.

The fire last Friday in Alexandria claimed the lives of 22-year-old Sarah Cholette, three-year-old Chloe, 19-month-old Maxime and nine-month-old Jacob.

The father, 26-year-old Martin Desjardins, remains in a Toronto hospital suffering from severe burns.

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People were overcome by emotion, holding their hands to their faces during the service at Eglise Sacre Coeur.

Investigators have determined a smoke alarm close to where the bedrooms were located on the second storey of the East Boundary Road home wasn't working.

The blaze started in the porch-area of the house and blocked the only exit from the home in the community 30 kilometres northeast of Cornwall.