Boy Dies in Apartment Fire : Fatality: Mother manages to save 2-year-old, who is said to have ignited the blaze, but couldn’t save son, 6, who was trapped by fire. Twenty-eight tenants are left homeless.

A fire accidentally ignited by a 2-year-old playing with a cigarette lighter swept through a Buena Park apartment Tuesday morning, killing the boy’s 6-year-old brother, who was trapped by flames in a bedroom, screaming for help.

The boys’ mother, who had dozed off in the living room, awoke to find the room in flames and rescued the younger boy but couldn’t save her older son, who had stayed home sick from kindergarten, said Buena Park Fire Marshal Donald Tully.

The mother “grabbed the 2-year-old, took him out the front door and when she got back in the living room, the fire was everywhere,” Tully said. “The boy was screaming for her and she was yelling his name but she couldn’t get to him. She ran outside and tried to break his bedroom window but by that time it was too late.”

Anthony Mangosing was trapped in his first-floor bedroom when the blaze roared through his family’s apartment in the 7400 block of Franklin Street just after 9 a.m.

A firefighter found the child dead on the floor near a charred bunk bed. The boy suffered third-degree burns over his entire body but may have already died from smoke inhalation, investigators said.

The boy’s 24-year-old mother, Mary Mitchell, told investigators that she had dozed off on a love seat in the living room when she was awakened by the heat of the fire, Tully said.

Shortly after the fire was extinguished, grief-stricken family members arrived at the apartment complex to comfort the boy’s anguished mother, who cried loudly as she stood on the sidewalk surrounded by her relatives.

“He was a sweet little boy,” said Bambi Mitchell, Mary Mitchell’s sister, as the group made its way upstairs. “He was so outgoing and intelligent. I loved him so much. He was loved by so many.”

A neighbor on the second floor, 32-year-old Rose Madison, tossed her 2-year-old son to rescuers from a balcony before jumping down to safety.

“I couldn’t open my front door because it was too hot,” Madison said breathlessly. “I didn’t want to jump. I was scared. But I made sure my kid was safe. Then I jumped.”

Mary Mitchell’s parents and three siblings, who live in an apartment directly across from her, heard the young woman’s frantic screams and joined in the futile efforts to rescue Anthony.

“I heard Mary screaming, ‘Anthony is in the house trapped!’ ” said a sobbing Bambi Mitchell. “Mary tried getting him out, but couldn’t. I tried but couldn’t. The entire house was in flames before we knew it.”

Buena Park firefighter David Orr, 27, discovered the child’s body.

“I have a child the same age, so it kind of hits home,” Orr said. “There was fire blowing out of every window by the time we got here, and were told there was a kid inside.”

Fire investigators could not explain why the fire spread so quickly through the apartment. The blaze caused an estimated $200,000 damage to the four-unit building and destroyed about $75,000 worth of its contents.

It took 32 firefighters from Buena Park, Orange County and Los Angeles fire departments 49 minutes to control the blaze, Tully said.

The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross was called to the scene and is providing food and temporary lodging for the 28 tenants in the crowded complex who were left homeless by the fire, said spokeswoman Judy Iannaconne.

Among those displaced was 36-year-old Willie Bell, who shared a three-bedroom apartment with eight other relatives. Bell said many precious family photographs were destroyed in the blaze as well as expensive textbooks he had bought to study electronics.

“I don’t have any insurance,” said Bell, shaking his head. “I think I’m going to get some now.”

Tully said apartments throughout the complex are equipped with smoke detectors but it is unclear whether the batteries in Mitchell’s detector were working.

“There are things I think we can learn from this tragedy,” Tully said. “The first is to make sure you have a functioning smoke detector. The second is to secure any smoking material such as matches or lighters in a cabinet. Don’t leave them on the coffee table. They need to be put out of temptation’s way.”

Tearful relatives and neighbors stood in front of the burned apartment building and fondly remembered the precocious child, who had celebrated his sixth birthday with a huge party on Sunday.

Mary Mitchell’s boyfriend, 24-year-old Chris Gilliland, said the youngster was ecstatic over the birthday gifts he received at the party, which was attended by neighborhood children and his friends from Gordon H. Beatty Elementary School.

“Anthony was not a shy boy,” added upstairs neighbor Jocelyn Bell. “He was a child who loved to play and always had a smile on his face. He was a very good boy. He would always come and knock on my door and say, ‘Can I come in? I want to play.’ He was a happy child, very happy.”

Jocelyn Bell, 36, said her concern now rested with Mary Mitchell, whom she described as “a good mom.”

“She was always taking care of them,” Bell said. “She was always there, right at home. She would walk him to the bus stop in the morning. I feel so badly for her.”