Santa Ana Boy Loses 14 Pet Birds to Fire
An 11-year-old boy lost his 14 pet parakeets and cockatiels when a fire broke out in his apartment building Wednesday.
The blaze started about 5 p.m. in the kitchen of the first-floor apartment at the Woodside Village complex, 2501 Sunflower Ave., fire officials said.
Baby sitter Dalal Alia, 18, said she grabbed her 10-month-old charge, Hana Dlati, and ran through the flames to get outside. The baby’s uncle, Omrou Dlati, 21, said he followed and tried to put out the fire with a garden hose, aided by neighbors.
The 11-year-old, George Vargas, was in his room in the upstairs apartment when he saw the smoke and called the Fire Department. “The smoke came through the screen. I don’t know if I inhaled it, because I was too busy talking,” he said.
He and his family also got out safely, but the pet birds he had been collecting on the balcony for four years died from the smoke.
The fire gutted the downstairs apartment and damaged the upstairs apartment. The exact cause was still under investigation Wednesday night.
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