Firefighters who battled an east-end house fire that claimed the lives of two people early Friday morning said they didn't hear fire alarms when they entered the semi-detached home.

Toronto Fire Chief Bill Stewart told reporters that a man and a woman were found close to the home's entrance. He said the couple, who lived on the main floor of the house, tried to escape but didn't make it past the front door.

"The smoke alarms, if they were in place … were they functioning and if they weren't functioning, why not," Steward said.

The fire broke out at about 3:30 a.m. at 141 Bastedo Ave.

Toronto Police have not released the names of the victims but friends and co-workers of the couple have identified them as 40-year-old Adam Smoke and 39-year-old Melody George.

Smoke was pronounced dead on the scene while his girlfriend was taken to Toronto East General Hospital with serious injuries.

Police said George was initially discovered without vital signs but EMS was able to revive her. She died later in hospital.

Landscaper Tom Jensen said Smoke was his employee and knew something was wrong when he didn't show up for work Friday morning.

Jensen told CTV Toronto that the man's coworkers are struggling to come to grips with his death.

"At this point they're sitting in a daze on the job site and trying to gather themselves with the sudden news," he said Friday morning.

Another resident who lived on the home's top floor was able to escape the building without harm, police said.

Friends told CTV Toronto that the deceased couple had children that weren't in the house at the time of the fire.

Smoke has a young son who lives with his ex-wife while Melody reportedly has two children that live with her ex-husband.

Smoke's cousin told CTV Toronto the family is devastated.

"He was a great father. He would lay down his life for his son. I just spent some time with him last weekend and he was just showing me pictures of his son. It's all he could talk about," Shawn Chapelle said.

The cause of the fire is still unknown. The Ontario Fire Marshal's office is now investigating.

With a report from CTV's John Musselman