HENRY COUNTY, Ind. -- Those who knew Michael Dale knew him as "Stump."
"He was everybody's friend, he would do anything for anybody, it didn't matter," Bryan Dale said.
The 52-year-old, who lived in New Castle for many years, was a familiar face. He often found time to play softball with the neighborhood kids.
He loved his family, including his 4-year-old granddaughter, Jenna.
Both died in a house fire in Henry county early Wednesday morning.
The fire started around 1 a.m., on the 1400 block of County Road 850 East, south of State Road 38.
Relatives say Dale died at the scene, and Jenna died at the hospital.
It's daylight & investigators are now looking into cause of Henry Co. fire that killed 4yo girl & her granddad @rtv6 pic.twitter.com/DhnuY47jjn
— Eric Cox (@EricRTV6) February 3, 2016
Two of Dale's brothers, who live nearby, called for help after they tried to get Michael and Jenna out of the house.
"All he cared about was kids. He loved kids. Stump was an outgoing guy. If you needed something, he'd give you the shirt off his back that's for sure. That little baby was everything, I mean, little baby is everything," said Chad and Bryan Dale.
Officials said that before fire crews arrived, police also attempted to save the victims, but got pushed back by the fire.
PHOTOS | Fire departments work early morning house fire in Henry County
Six crews worked on putting out the fire Wednesday morning.
Indiana State Fire Marshal James Greeson has taken over the investigation into what started the fire. There were no working smoke detectors in the house.
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