Trailer Fire Kills Infant on Day Struggling Family Was to Move

Friday was to be the day when Enrique and Maria Diaz finally had enough money to move themselves and their two small children from a junkyard trailer in east Wilmington to a new home somewhere in the Harbor area.

Instead, the young couple were in mourning after an accidental fire in the trailer claimed their 6-week-old daughter, Elizabeth, despite their efforts to save her.

Diaz, his wife and their 2-year-old child escaped injury in the noontime fire, authorities said.

The blaze, Los Angeles city firefighters said, was sparked by an electrical short in a wall heater in the trailer, parked in a junkyard at 918 N. Schley Ave. Diaz and his family had been living in the trailer while he worked at the junkyard, hoping to save enough money to rent another home.

The fire, which gutted the trailer, spread so quickly that Diaz was unable to rescue his daughter, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the blaze.

Los Angeles Harbor Division police had planned to help the family relocate Friday with donations from officers. “They were one of the families we adopted for the holidays, and we were going to move them out of the trailer when this happened,” said Capt. Joseph DeLadurantey, the division’s commander.

“It’s a real tragedy. There was no abuse involved. No neglect. Just a tragedy,” he said.

After the blaze, the family was relocated by St. Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church in Wilmington to a temporary home.