Inferno Toll Grows: Heroic Mother, Relative Are Dead

A second person died Tuesday of injuries suffered in a tragic house fire--ignited by a burning Christmas tree--that also killed a family’s 54-year-old matriarch, seriously injured two others, and left 18 relatives homeless.

As city investigators sifted through the rubble, survivors told a harrowing tale about how the mother desperately tried to save her paraplegic son.

While fire raced through her house Monday evening, Pilar Sanchez Flores reacted instinctively, rushing from the kitchen to a bedroom to rescue her 18-year-old son.

But as she stumbled through the inferno with her son in her arms, she fell in a smoke-filled hallway near the front door. She never made it out, but the son survived.

The fire killed Flores and fatally injured a relative, identified by the coroner’s office as Mario Nunez, 41, who died Tuesday at UCI Medical Center in Orange. He had suffered smoke inhalation and burns over 95% of his body, authorities said. Two of Flores’ seven children, including the paraplegic son, were severely injured.

Tuesday morning, Flores’ relatives, members of an El Salvadoran family that immigrated here 16 years ago, gathered at the house on Wilshire Avenue to sift through the ruins and grieve.

“She was the one who looked after us,” said one of Flores’ sons, 25-year-old Rueben Ventura, as he stood outside the gutted house, tears filling his eyes. More than 15 hours after the fire, his hair was singed by the flames and a smoky film still covered his face and hands.

Survivors said the fire began about 7:30 p.m. Monday when their Christmas tree, purchased 10 days earlier, burst into flames. Within seconds, they said, the blaze engulfed the five-bedroom house, filling it with thick smoke and fierce flames.

Flores’ paraplegic son, Jose de la Cruz Nunez, remained in critical condition at UCI Medical Center, with second- and third-degree burns over 15% of his body. A daughter, 14-year-old Maria Pilar Lopez, was listed in serious condition at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana.

The intensity of the blaze was as if “someone had put gasoline on the flames,” said Jose Rodolfo Ventura, 23, another of Flores’ sons. “It was that fast. You don’t realize how fast this fire burned through the house.”

Most of the family’s belongings, including furniture, clothes and recently purchased Christmas gifts, were burned to ashes.

The charred metal frame of a bicycle that was supposed to be a Christmas gift stood in the living room, a ghostly reminder of the Christmas dreams that had gone up in flames.

Karl Ellman, a Santa Ana Fire Department spokesman, said faulty wiring came into contact with the dry Christmas tree and ignited the fire. He said that burning Christmas trees can fill a room with an enormous amount of heat and flame within seconds.

Officials estimated the damage to the house at $230,000.

As city code inspectors Beth Aldecoa and David Tibbs combed the home’s blackened interior, their feet squished in a charcoal-gray sludge of ash and water that covered what was left of the floor. The pungent smell of burned contents filled the chill air inside.

“There doesn’t appear to be any building code violations that would have contributed to the tragedy,” Aldecoa said, adding that room additions to the house had been made legally.

Although 22 members of four “extended” families lived in the house owned by Flores, the inspectors said the number of residents was not illegal under current city codes. However, officials were trying to determine whether the large number of people living in the house made it difficult to escape the blaze, Aldecoa said.

In general, Ellman said, “When you have more people in a dwelling, (there is) more chance of injury and more chance that something will go wrong.”

If the city were being allowed to enforce a residential-overcrowding ordinance that is being challenged in court, officials estimated that the family would have exceeded occupancy limits by three people.

Survivors, meanwhile, gathered several blocks away at a relative’s home--their temporary refuge until they decide where to go next.

Jorge Ventura, 12, another of Flores’ sons, said he was watching television in the living room, where the Christmas tree was located.

He left the room briefly, he said, and “when I came back, the tree was already starting to burn. I tried to pick it up, but it was burning, it had flames all around the bottom and they were leaping up toward the top of the tree.”

Almost simultaneously, other family members attempted to put out the fire and then fled.

“I ran outside to get a bucket or some water, but by the time I came back, the whole living room was engulfed and it was threatening the hallway and two other rooms,” Jose Ventura said.

Other family members lowered 10 small children, including a 5-month-old infant, to safety through a bedroom window facing the street, survivors said.

Added to the horror were the loud popping sounds of exploding glass as the fire swept through the house, said a cousin, 31-year-old Cristina Bonilla.

“Thank God that most of us were saved,” Rueben Ventura said.

The mother might have survived had it not been for her bravery, said Jose Angel Ventura, 33.

“We have a sick brother and he could not move,” he said. “He was in the bedroom and she tried to save him.”

Rueben Ventura said that after helping other family members escape through a bedroom window, he re-entered the house and pulled his paraplegic brother out of the fire.

He said he heard Mario Nunez, another relative, yell, “Help me,” and pulled him out. Both his brother and Nunez were badly burned.

He said he attempted to return for his mother, but the flames had reached the front door, and hopes of finding her turned to despair.

“I just found my brother,” he said. “I did not know where my mother was.”

At their temporary shelter, family members sifted through clothes spread across the back yard, trying to determine what could be used. And as rain began to sprinkle down, they spread a white plastic sheet over their goods for protection.

“We are very anxious. We don’t know what to do right now,” Rueben Ventura said. “We are just going in circles. We have a lot of problems.”

Times staff writer Dan Weikel contributed to this report.

Christmas Tree Safety Tips

Here is what firefighters recommend to ensure that Christmas trees and lighting do not become fire hazards.

Making the Tree Safe

KEEP IT MOIST: Place the tree in a water-bearing stand.

KEEP AWAY FROM HEAT: Avoid placing the tree near fireplaces, radiators, heating ducts or appliances that generate heat. Do not use candles on or near the tree.

KEEP WATCH: Children and pets might be tempted to climb the tree, knock it down or eat its ornaments. Lighted trees should never be left unattended.

DISPOSE OF PROPERLY: Do not burn the tree in the fireplace. Dry trees are highly flammable, so the fire could easily rage out of control.

Christmas Light Safety

LOOK FOR FLAWS: Check old and new lights for frayed wiring, broken plugs and loose bulb sockets. If a bulb is out, replace it. An empty socket or one with a bad bulb in it can cause a short, which can cause a fire.

UL APPROVAL: Make sure strings of lights are UL-listed. That means that they have passed safety tests at Underwriters Laboratories.

INDOOR USE ONLY: Do not use lights labeled for outdoor use inside the home or vice versa.

LIMIT THE LIGHTS: The more lights used on a Christmas tree, the faster the tree will dry out. Trouble usually occurs after Christmas Day, when trees are drier and people continue to leave the lights on unattended. Even mini-lights generate heat.

NEVER ON METALLIC TREES: A faulty string of lights could cause a metallic tree to become charged with electricity and create a danger of electrocution.

Source: Orange County Fire Department