Girl, 2, Perishes in Fire; 3 Hurt

A 2-year-old girl died after she apparently crawled from her burning bed into a closet to escape advancing flames in the apartment where she lived, authorities said.

Sarah Galka died despite numerous attempts by neighbors and passersby to rescue her through the second-story window. The only door to the two-room apartment was blocked by fire.

The child’s mother, Laney Galka, her boyfriend, Arthur Tyrone Finnegan, and another toddler they were baby-sitting, Cynthia Anderson, were seriously injured in the 5:30 a.m. fire that gutted the apartment in a brick building near downtown Ventura.

Barry Simmons, spokesman for the Ventura City Fire Department, said officials would continue to interview witnesses and investigate the cause of the fire.

“If it’s arson, obviously that leads to murder,” Simmons said.