Rescue Fails, Two Children Perish in Fire

Two children died in a house fire Saturday despite rescue efforts by Sheriff’s deputies and a neighbor who were turned back by thick smoke and flames.

County fire officials said the blaze at 2057 Lucien St., in the Willowbrook area, broke out shortly before 5:30 p.m. It took fire units only eight minutes to knock down the flames, said Inspector Joe Silva of the county Fire Department, but it still was too late to save the boy and girl who were trapped inside.

The victims were identified by the coroner’s office as Oscar Monterosa, 2, and Kenia Miranda, 3. The children were not related.

According to neighbors, a woman who was inside the two-story house raced outside with an infant clutched in her arms, screaming that other children were trapped.

“She was just screaming--hollering,” said Christina Silva, a neighbor and no relation to Joe Silva. “I guess there was too much smoke (for the woman) to grab the other ones.”

Flames Confined to Inside

Christina Silva and another neighbor, 13-year-old Rocio Labrada, said heavy smoke poured from the house but the flames apparently were confined to the inside.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly before county fire units, said Labrada.

“The cops (deputies) got here and tried to get in but couldn’t,” she said. Labrada said she saw a woman outside whom she believed was the mother of one of the trapped children. “She was crying. It was so sad.”

Fire Department spokesman Silva said a neighbor also was unsuccessful in rescue efforts. Several adults reportedly were inside the house when the fire broke out, he said.

The fire apparently began in the upstairs, rear bedroom in which the two youngsters died. Their bodies were found near a closet. Most of the damage was confined to the bedroom, Silva said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause.