Gasoline Fumes Blamed in Fatal Fire : Young Woman, Daughter Die in Apartment

Gasoline fumes from a motorcycle parked in the dining room of an Anaheim apartment caused an explosion and fire early Friday that killed a woman and her young daughter and left the woman’s husband in critical condition, authorities reported.

The 1:10 a.m. fire at the two-level apartment at 2045 S. Haster St. left Rosa Lopez, 24, and her daughter, Josie, 4, dead. Their bodies were found on the second-story balcony from which they attempted to escape the blaze.

Anaheim Fire Department investigators said Jose Adolfo Lopez, 35, managed to jump from the same balcony. He was listed in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange with burns over 50% of his body and head injuries. A hospital spokesman said Lopez suffered second- and third-degree burns on his face, arms, back and feet.

Tried to Escape “They were trying to escape through the balcony. Unfortunately, they (the woman and child) could not escape,” said investigator Mike Feeney after reviewing the charred remains of the two-story apartment. The fire caused minor damage to the other three units in the four-unit building.

Investigators determined that Lopez suffered the head injuries when he leaped to the concrete terrace on the ground level of the apartment. He apparently was injured too seriously to help his wife and child, investigators said.

He was found “walking around in a daze,” Feeney said.

Feeney also said that Boris Lopez, the injured man’s brother, and his wife, Lucy, escaped via the balcony of an adjoining apartment.

“The other balcony is only two or three feet away and they were able to jump to it and escape,” Feeney said.

Mary Fletcher, co-manager of the French Quarters Apartments, said she was unaware that Boris and Lucy Lopez, who is seven months pregnant, were in the apartment. Feeney said Boris Lopez told investigators that he and his wife were living with his brother.

Efforts by officials to find the couple later in the day proved fruitless. Neither the Red Cross, which booked a room for them at the TraveLodge in Anaheim, nor fire investigators were able to find them. A motel clerk said the couple failed to appear to claim their reservation.

“Obviously, there’s a breakdown somewhere,” Feeney said.

Red Cross official Karen Reed said eight residents of the other three apartments were temporarily displaced by the fire, which took 41 firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish. Total damage was estimated at $200,000.

Feeney said the adjacent apartment was damaged by smoke and water; its tenants were moved to another apartment. The other two units had only minor roof damage.

Feeney said the motorcycle, which belonged to Jose Adolfo Lopez, was parked in the ground-level dining room. “We feel some fumes from the motorcycle made their way to the stove and ignited in the kitchen,” he said. “And we do know there was an explosion of some kind.”

The blast blew a door off one of the two upstairs bedrooms, he added.

Apartment manager Fletcher, who described Jose Adolfo and Rosa Lopez as “very pleasant” tenants, said she was unaware that a motorcycle was being kept in the dining room, a practice forbidden in the apartment complex.

Remains of Cycle As fire officials completed their investigation Friday, all that remained of the motorcycle was the burned and battered frame among the ruins on the first-floor terrace.

Fletcher said the Lopezes and their daughter had lived at the apartments for the past year, and had moved into this particular unit six months ago. She said she did not know what Lopez did for a living but that Rosa Lopez frequently served as a baby sitter for other tenants.

“They were a very clean family, very pleasant. I don’t know what other way to describe them,” Fletcher said. “They got along well with the other residents. They were very nice people.”

CAP A fire that took two lives early Friday burned brightly at an apartment complex at 2045 S. Haster St. in Anaheim. CAP Lucy and Boris Lopez are consoled by a friend after aparetment fire that killed two relatives with whom they reportedly were living.