Fire Kills Girl, 3, Injures 7 Others

A candle was responsible for a fire that destroyed the Pomona home of a Cambodian immigrant family early Wednesday, leaving a 3-year-old girl dead and injuring seven other people, authorities said.

Contributing to the death and injuries, authorities said, were security bars on a rear bedroom window that had no quick-release mechanism, as is required by law.

Rescuers--including the dead girl’s parents--struggled to remove the metal bars and free those trapped in the burning house.

By the time firefighters reached 3-year-old Richeana So and her 52-year-old grandmother, officials said, both were unconscious and barely clinging to life.

They were found on the floor near the window, officials said, with the grandmother apparently trying to protect the girl.

Residents of the house were members of a Cambodian refugee family who endured wars in Southeast Asia and the trauma of a refugee camp in Thailand before making the transition to a new life as immigrants in Southern California in the late 1980s.

Officials said the flame from a candle ignited the fire, which was reported at 3:36 a.m. and spread quickly through the rented home in the 1500 block of South Linden Street.

“I don’t think she felt anything,” the grief-stricken mother, Kathy Phao, 24, said of her daughter during a news conference at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

Both parents were treated for hand and arm injuries suffered as they tried to rescue their family.

Speaking at the hospital, the couple asked for financial aid to deal with funeral expenses for their daughter and the replacement of their belongings, virtually all of which were destroyed.

“The flame was so fast I [couldn’t] even get my daughter out,” the sobbing mother said.

“I went back in and everything fell on top of me,” she said.

As the fire spread and rescuers attempted to enter the home, witnesses said the mother was screaming in desperation, “My baby is still in there!”

Sitting next to the mother in the hospital auditorium was the dead girl’s father, Phe Dith, 24, who works as a mechanic. His hands, like those of his fiancee, were bandaged because of burns suffered in the rescue attempt.

“She cried, ‘Daddy!’ twice,” the father said. “We tried to get to her but the fire was too high.”

The father, neighbors and Pomona police managed to pull other family members from the burning building. But they were unable to remove the bolted bars in time to save the girl.

The grandmother, Sin Chun, 52, was in critical condition with serious burns at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. Her husband, Noeur Phao, 53, was in fair condition with burns and smoke inhalation at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

In guarded condition at Pomona Valley was Charlie Phao, 11, who suffered from smoke inhalation. His two older brothers, Ken Phao, 14, and Chahron Phao, 16, were treated at the hospital and released.

Authorities said they had not determined who had installed the bars on the rear bedroom window.

Despite the risk, illegal home security bars are common throughout the county, fire officials said.

“If they had had a quick release, the chances that the family may have escaped without injury would have increased tenfold,” said Capt. Steve Valenzuela of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Word of the danger posed by illegal security bars spread quickly in the family’s working-class neighborhood.

“People shouldn’t use them,” said Carlos Leon, a mechanic who lives across the street.

The twisted security bars that had hindered rescuers lay on the lawn in front of the charred stucco home hours later.

Among those stopping by were members of the Cambodian community, many of whom knew the family.

“We all try the share the sadness,” said Ath Hav, 28, a baker from Pomona. He said he was from the same region south of Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, as the family. “We will all try to help the friendship. Whatever we need to do.”

Representatives of Pomona Valley Hospital said donations for the Phao family can be sent to:

PVHMC Foundation, 1798 N. Garey Ave., Pomona, CA 91767.