3 children, 2 adults die in Merced County house fire, officials say
Five members of a Merced County household — including three children — were killed in a fire early Thursday in Dos Palos, fire officials confirmed.
Ten people were in the rural home near Julip Avenue and Mint Road when the fire was reported just before 5 a.m., according to Division Chief Mark Pimentel of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also called Cal Fire.
UPDATE: Five victims identified
When crews arrived, residents in a neighboring home told firefighters that people were likely inside, Pimentel said.
The neighbors also aided the fire crews as they pulled the residents out, Cal Fire said, and firefighters began life-saving maneuvers.
Five of the residents were pronounced dead at the scene, Cal Fire said. Two were transported to area hospitals and three others refused medical assistance.
Family friend
Horacio Cisneros stood outside the house, where he said he stopped to pay his respects to the family after hearing about the fire from a friend. He said the five deceased family members were a couple and their three children, ages 1, 4 and 11.
“I’ve known them for 20 years. ... They’re real close to the community — really good people, close to the church,” Cisneros said.
The owner of the Faded All Day barber shop in Dos Palos, Cisneros said he lived at the home for about 20 years and the current occupants moved in about 10 years ago.
“I’m in disbelief; I can’t process that this happened,” he said. They’re a good family. They didn’t deserve this, you know,” Cisneros said. “They’re going to need a lot of help from the community to get through this.”
Multiple fatalities fires
Having so many deaths in a house fire is uncommon. Fresno City Fire Public Information Officer Jonathan Lopez said one would need to go back to 2015 to find such a tragedy in Fresno.
Five people died before 7 a.m. Dec. 13, 2015, when a boarded-up home on Archie Avenue in east-central Fresno erupted in flames in what was noted as an especially deadly fire. A sixth person was taken to Community Regional Medical Center and reported to be in critical condition.
Lopez said that fire, which the department calls the Archie Incident, was an unusual case because the home was abandoned. The way it was boarded up left only one entry and exit for the people inside.
Sacramento-area Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jon Heggie said house fires that kill multiple people are rare, but they do happen.
“It’s very rare that it happens,” he said. “To have multiple people or a whole family is an extremely rare and tragic occurrence.”
Heggie said the incident serves as a reminder for homeowners and renters to check their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors regularly. Experts generally recommend testing the detectors monthly.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 7:43 AM.
