Yucaipa Boy, 4, Dies in Mobile Home Fire

A 4-year-old Yucaipa boy was killed and his twin brother was seriously burned late Thursday in a fire that may have been started in a Christmas tree, San Bernardino County officials said.

Bill Peters, a spokesman for the California Division of Forestry and Fire Protection/San Bernardino County Fire Department, said the unidentified child was pronounced dead at the scene after the fire gutted a mobile home shortly after 5 p.m.

The boy’s mother, who was not identified, told fire investigators she was bathing her 2-year-old daughter when she heard the crackling of flames coming from the living room where the twin boys were playing.

With her daughter in one arm, the woman raced into the living room, scooped up one of the boys and ran out of the home to escape the fire. But she was unable to return to rescue the boy left behind, Peters said.

The boy that was rescued suffered second-degree burns on his hands and face. He was taken to San Bernardino County General Hospital in San Bernardino, where he was reported in serious condition.

It took nine fire units from San Bernardino and Riverside counties about 15 minutes to extinguish the fire.