Two adults and one child were killed in a fiery crash on West Colonial Drive on Tuesday morning, according to the Orlando Police Department.

Sgt. Eduardo Bernal said that just before 9:30 a.m., an Orange County Sheriff's deputy was on an unrelated call when he heard a crash across the street. Witnesses said the crash sounded like a bomb going off.

The deputy saw a vehicle that had struck a tree and caught fire, Bernal said. Police have not determined what caused the deadly accident.

Another deputy and Orange County Fire Rescue came onto the scene and they, along with the first deputy, tried to help the three people in the car, but they were overtaken by the heat, Bernal said. None of the rescuers were hurt.

Raymond Anderson said it was his relative driving the car that crashed. He says he had just dropped off his kids at school, but his girlfriend and three-year-old daughter were still with him.

“I’ve got my niece right here and she’s going through it real bad, it’s a hurting thing to lose a relative behind something like this right here,” said Anderson.

Antwaun Ringer works across the street and saw the car going westbound on Colonial Drive.

"It's too close to Christmas to have to bury somebody over something so senseless," Antwaun Ringer said. "... The rate of speed they were going, he (must have) had the pedal to the floor. ... I've never seen metal break apart the way that it broke apart like that. ... Metal broke like shattered glass."

But at this point Orlando Police said because the crash was so violent, it may take a while to tell if speed was a factor. They’re still investigating to find out what exactly caused the driver to lose control.

Officials haven't released the names of the people who died.  

Westbound Colonial Drive was shut down at Fairvilla Road for several hours.

The Orlando Police Department's traffic homicide unit investigate the case.