House Fire Kills Family of 3 in Berkeley
They were doing what many families dream of--taking their daughter to her first year of college.
That dream ended Sunday at dawn for the Lakewood family when a fire swept through a Berkeley house, killing soon-to-be UC Berkeley freshman Azalea Anne Josay and her parents, Florita Castillo Josay and Francisco Aguila, according to the Alameda County coroner’s office.
Firefighters rushed to the home after callers reported that there was smoke coming from windows on the first and second floors and that three people were trapped inside, according to a Berkeley Fire Department press release.
One person was rescued from a second floor window by neighbors before the 29 firefighters arrived at the scene, the release said. The fire, reported at 6:42 a.m., was under control by 7:10, the Fire Department said--but it was too late to save the family.
Deputy Norman McAdams, of the Alameda County coroner’s office, said Josay and Aguila were “trying to help the daughter move into her new home because she was starting at UC Berkeley.”
“They had just moved her in,” he said. “That was the reason they were here.”
He said no other details were immediately available.
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