Jacqueline Montanaro killed in Hazlet house fire after running back inside to try to rescue daughter

HAZLET, N.J. -- A Hazlet woman and her daughter were killed in a tragic house fire. Family and friends said the women spent her last moments alive fighting to save her child. 

Jacqueline Montanaro made it out of the house, but realized her 6-year-old girl was still inside. The smoke was so thick, her husband struggled to get through the door. But she ran back inside. 

"We're just so upset about it. There's no words. Like why, why is this happening?" said Jacqueline Frescki, a preschool teacher. 

At Miles of Smiles Daycare on Monday, there were only tears as preschool teachers grieved the loss of 6-year-old Madelyn and her mother in the Friday morning fire. 

"When you think of the perfect person, she was it. She was always just kind and kind to everyone, and she was instilling that in her daughters, to spread love and kindness," said Sandy Hagberg, a preschool teacher. 

Montanaro's husband William, deep in grief, called his wife a hero. He wrote on Twitter, "Without hesitation, Jackie then charged in with a mother's love and the courage of a police officer fueling the attempt to save our daughter."

He and their 8-year-old daughter Elena were able to escape. 

"The kind of mother that she was to those girls, it does not surprise me at all," said Hagberg. 

Montanaro, 40, was a devoted Customs and Border Protection officer.

On a GoFundMe for the family, her coworker wrote, "She held everyone to an extremely high standard and worked tirelessly to make everyone around her a better officer, a better person, or simply a better family member." 

"We're going to miss his wife and his daughter and the family in a multitude of ways that we can't even imagine at this point," said Hazlet Deputy Mayor Peter Terranova. 

CBS2 also learned the family's dog Duchess died in the fire. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials said it does not appear to be suspicious.

The community is planning a vigil Tuesday evening at Veterans Park.