Fire Kills Trapped Tustin Boy, 4; Father Rescues 4 Other Children

A 4-year-old Tustin boy, trapped in the bedroom of a burning apartment, died today just minutes after his father successfully rescued his four other children amid heavy fire and smoke.

The dead boy was identified by relatives as James De La Riva. His three brothers and a sister, ranging in age from 2 to 7, managed to escape unharmed with the aid of their father, Joseph De La Riva, 28.

De La Riva said he was sleeping when the fire broke out and was awakened by the screams of his two older sons to find a couch on fire in the living room. He said his youngest son was apparently playing with a cigarette lighter.

The flames from the couch quickly spread to the walls of the living room, and De La Riva rushed his three other sons and a daughter outside. Moments later, when he discovered that James was missing, he attempted to climb through a bedroom window but was restrained by two police officers.

“I could hear him (Jim),” a tearful De La Riva said. “I opened the window and I heard him crying, ‘Dad, Dad!’ I knew he was only a few feet away. They told me I couldn’t go in . . . that there is too much smoke.”

De La Riva and other relatives said they were upset that police did not allow him to save his screaming child.

“The child is in there burning and they don’t let the father go back in,” the child’s grandmother, Josie Ruiz, said. “A parent could do anything to save the child. If you don’t want a policeman to go in I understand, but I don’t understand why they wouldn’t let a father go in.”

But fire officials said they made the best decision in restraining De La Riva.

“We’re just lucky somebody restrained him or we could have had two fatalities,” Fire Capt. Hank Raymond said.

De La Riva said he was a salesman at a building supply store and was caring for the children because his wife worked the overnight shift at a post office. He said a home smoke detector apparently did sound an alarm, but it was not loud enough to wake him up.

Kathleen Cha, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Department, said the blaze broke out at 8 a.m. in a four-unit complex in the 15000 block of Bliss Lane near the corner of Altadena Drive in Tustin.

Cha said the blaze destroyed the unit, but 40 firefighters called to the scene were able to prevent the flames from spreading to the other units. The fire was brought under control at 8:33 a.m.

A Tustin police officer and a firefighter received minor injuries in the blaze and were taken to Western Medical Center in Anaheim.