The father of 3 was ‘panicked’ and left his children inside the burning apartment to try and get help. He was the sole survivor of the fire

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• A Kenosha Police Department search warrant revealed new information about a Thanksgiving apartment fire that killed three children, with only their father surviving.

• Joshua Kanin, who was treated for smoke inhalation, told police that after waking up and seeing the flames, he “panicked” and ran out the front door to try to get help — and when he returned, he could hear his children inside, but couldn’t reach them.

• The cause of the fire is under investigation

Joshua Kanin, a Wisconsin father, told police he panicked after realizing his house was on fire, leaving his three children inside and running to get help, according to a search warrant. He ended up as the sole survivor – and now their mother is asking why he left her children behind.

Jordan Fesby told PEOPLE that she spent Thanksgiving morning with her three children — Rylee, 10, Connor, 9 and Elena, 7 — before dropping them off at their father’s two-story apartment. Hours later, he learned that his boys had died in the fire and that his daughter had been hospitalized.

Later at the hospital with her dead daughter, Fesby said she asked Kanin, “Aren’t you going to hold the kids first?”

“Things weren’t connected,” she says.

Kanin told police that on November 27 around 9:00 p.m., Rylee and Connor went to sleep in their bedroom on the second floor. He himself went to bed about an hour later, at which time his daughter was “awake” and in the room.

According to a search warrant obtained by PEOPLE, Kanin said that when he woke up a short time later — authorities responded to the fire just after 11:00 p.m. — he “felt his eyes were cloudy” and when he went downstairs, he saw “a small fire on the kitchen floor.”

“Joshua said he got scared and ran out the front door,” police wrote, adding that the father told them he thought to himself, “I have to get help.”

As he was banging on his neighbor’s door, screaming for help, he yelled for his children to come down, according to the warrant.

“I opened the door (to his residence) and I heard my kids. I tried to get in, but the smoke just got to me and I couldn’t see. I only got two steps in and I had to turn back,” Kannin told police. “When I opened the door, it made it worse.”

He said he believed he put a cigarette in the kitchen sink before going to bed but put it out before going to sleep.

When first responders arrived, they found two children who were believed to be dead — later identified as brothers Riley and Connor — and another child who was severely burned.

The area where they were found is the kitchen/dining room area of ​​the apartment, Feasby tells PEOPLE.

Elena, described in the report, was found either in a second-floor bedroom or near the stairs, was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died of her injuries.

Kannin was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation. Feasby says he was released the next morning.

In response to the issuance of the search warrant, the Kenosha Police Department released a clarification regarding the status of their ongoing investigation.

The warrant said investigators are looking into possible arson and possible murder. Under Wisconsin law, law enforcement must outline potential criminal charges when applying for a search warrant to establish probable cause.

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On the night of the fire, Kannin’s black Samsung mobile phone was found at the scene and a draft of the search warrant was prepared. Then the phone was searched according to the warrant. That search revealed no evidence of criminal activity related to the fire.

“As the investigation continues in conjunction with the Kenosha Fire Department, they will continue to methodically rule out all possible causes of the fire,” KPD spokesman Lt. Joshua Hecker told PEOPLE. “This is a complex and evolving case, and we are committed to conducting a thorough, fair, and evidence-driven investigation.”

On Friday, a service was held for the three brothers. Fesby, who spoke about her children during the services, said Kanin attended, but did not speak to mourners gathered there. A GoFundMe has been set up to pay for funeral costs.

Officials had no update when reached by PEOPLE on Monday, Dec. 8.

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