Cause of Fatal Apartment Blaze in Linda Vista Still Unknown

Fire officials said Tuesday they are still unsure what caused the Linda Vista apartment fire Monday night that killed a 9-year-old girl and badly burned her pregnant mother and a neighbor.

“The people who can tell us what happened are unable to talk to us yet, so we have to wait until they are able to,” a Metro Arson Strike Team spokeswoman said.

A firefighter told a reporter Monday that the fire had started behind the living room couch. The couch, along with other charred furniture, lay in the building’s backyard Tuesday afternoon.

Rosa Jimenez was trapped by the fire at her home in the 6700 block of Tait Avenue about 7:30 p.m. She died at Sharp Memorial Hospital a short time later of carbon monoxide poisoning, the San Diego County coroner’s office said.

Rosa’s mother, Elvira Jimenez, 41, and a friend, Elizabeth Contreras, 23, were taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, where they were treated in the intensive care unit, hospital spokeswoman Eileen Callahan said.

Jimenez, seven months pregnant, was taken off the critical list and was reported in fair condition Tuesday with burns, Callahan said.

Contreras, who neighbors said had been outside the apartment and ran in to try to save the family, is still listed in critical condition at the hospital’s burn center, Callahan said.

Jimenez’s son, 17-year-old Bulmaro Sanchez, who carried three younger children to safety, said Monday that the family had had problems with electrical wiring and gas in the apartment. The family has lived at the apartment since May, 1985, according to property manager John Brooks of San Diego-based Pacific Horizon Properties Inc.

Brooks said he has been manager for two months and never received any complaints of faulty wiring or leaking gas.

Jimenez’s husband, Pedro Vargas, said Tuesday that he did not know of any faulty wiring or gas leaks.

Brooks said: “Very honestly, 80% of the problem is the tenants . . . they’re destroying the place. . . . We have had a real bad situation with vandalism because of the type of tenants there. . . . It’s terrible, letting kids running around crazy.”

Brooks said that because of negligence in maintaining the premises, he had already issued three 30-day notices for certain tenants to leave the 20-unit complex.

However, Brooks called the family in the burned unit “acceptable tenants.”

Vargas, 31, said the family is staying with an aunt. “Neighbors are helping, giving us money and things,” he said.