Encinitas

A 7-year-old Ensenada boy died in a fire that suddenly engulfed his family’s van while his father was working on the engine alongside Interstate 5, California Highway Patrol officials said.

Librado Pachecho Aguilar died at 12:50 a.m. Monday. His father, Fulheso Aguilar Ortega, 41, had been trying to fix the family’s Dodge van on I-5, about a half mile north of Leucadia Boulevard, Officer Bob Polzin said.

When Aguilar tried to start the van, a spark in the carburetor set fire to it, Polzin said. Aguilar and his wife, Maria, managed evacuated three other children, but they were unable to save Librado, who died at the scene, Polzin said.

Maria Aguilar, 32, was listed in good condition at UC San Diego Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said. She has second- and third-degree burns on her legs, hands and feet.

Fulheso Aguilar and his children, Silvia Aguilar, 11, and Patricia Aguilar, 9, were treated at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas, as was another person in the van, Jose Baltazar, 15, a hospital spokeswoman said.