2 Toddlers Killed in Blaze at Home Day Care Facility : Huntington Beach Fire Injures 3

Two toddlers were killed and two other children and their baby-sitter were injured today in a fire that swept through a home day care facility in Huntington Beach, authorities said.

Police did not immediately release the names of the children but said that the two who died were both 18 months old. One of the surviving youngsters was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange in serious condition with second- and third-degree burns, while the other child was taken to Humana Hospital in Huntington Beach.

The surviving children were identified as boys, one 2 and the other 4.

According to Huntington Beach police spokesperson Martha Werth, the fire broke out at the single-story stucco home at 5122 Audrey Drive shortly before 10 a.m. and quickly engulfed the home in smoke.

Witnesses said the baby-sitter, identified as Pat Orozco, 49, ran out of the house with a child in her arms and went back inside in an attempt to rescue the others. Orozco was hospitalized at UCI Medical Center, but authorities said her injuries were not serious.

“She had a baby in her arms, and they both had burns,” said Kevin Mohl, 26, a Huntington Beach resident who drove by the house shortly after the fire broke out. “She was going crazy. She was trying to get the babies out. She was going into hysterics.”

Before fire units arrived, witnesses said several people tried to dash into the burning house to rescue the children. One of the would-be rescuers was an unidentified city water employee who groped his way through the smoke inside but could not find the youngsters.

“He went in and got three or four stuffed animals out, then the roof collapsed,” said David Hansen, an Arrowhead Water employee who watched the rescue attempt.

Fire officials said they did not know what caused the fire, but witnesses said it appeared that most of the damage was in the rear of the house, where one room was gutted by flames and part of the ceiling collapsed.

The dead toddlers were found by firemen, who arrived at the scene just minutes after the blaze started.

Valerie Breen, coastal vice president of the Orange County Day Care Assn., said her records indicated that the Orozco facility was licensed and in good standing with the county Department of Social Services.

The fire department immediately set up a crisis center to console the youngsters’ parents once they arrived. It was not known whether any of the children were related to each other.