22-year-old brother killed, 2 cousins injured in San Pablo fire
SAN PABLO, Calif. - A 22-year-old man was killed, and his young cousin and brother were seriously injured when their apartment unit in San Pablo caught fire early Sunday morning, Contra Costa Fire officials reported.
The flames broke out shortly before 3 a.m. at an apartment on Manchester Avenue.
"You could see the curtains were all on fire and all of a sudden boom the window blew open," said William Keele, who was staying with his sister in the apartment and called 911.
Neighbor Mary Lewis told KTVU the mother who lives in the unit works nights, so she wasn't home when the fire started.
Her two sons and nephew had to be pulled out by firefighters.
Lewis said she had to call the mother to tell her that her home was on fire.
Firefighters were able to get the fire out fast and keep it contained to just that unit.
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They were able to find the two young boys quickly. Neighbors said they were both badly burned and sent to the hospital in critical condition.
It took first responders longer to find the 22-year-old – the oldest son.
He died after inhaling a lot of smoke.
"Fires that can be lethal aren’t always the fires that have flames burning through the roof," Capt. George Laing with Contra Costa County Fire said. "Smoke is a very deadly component of any structure fire. And when people are sleeping at night, they need to be notified that there’s a problem at all so that’s why firefighters continuously remind the public that working smoke alarms save lives."
Fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire, and if there were working smoke detectors.
But neighbors said they didn't hear any alarms.
It was another neighbor that saw the flames and was banging on everyone's doors to alert them.