Probe of Fatal Fire Focuses on Attic

A Placentia house fire that killed a father and his three young sons started accidentally in the attic and burned for a lengthy period before it was reported to authorities, an Orange County fire official said Tuesday.

The findings contradict initial reports that the Jan. 28 blaze began near the living room, then spread with surprising speed as Donald Ybarra dashed upstairs to try to rescue his boys.

Ybarra, 39, and sons Brandon, 7, Connor, 4, and Jacob, 2, were found in second-story bedrooms over the garage. The small attic where the fire started is adjacent to those bedrooms and above the living room area.

They will be buried today after a Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Placentia.

Melodie Ybarra, who fled from her burning home and alerted neighbors, is staying with her parents in Fullerton as she recovers from second-degree burns. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but authorities said Tuesday that they believe the path originated in the attic, based on the heavy damage to the roof, which collapsed over the living room and kitchen area.

“That whole area had the heaviest damage,” said Capt. Stephen J. Miller, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. “Investigators believe there had been a major fire in the attic and it burned a long time prior to the fire department arriving.”

The first engine got to the scene about 9:40 p.m., four or five minutes after the first 911 call. It was placed by Ted Tipton, a neighbor across the street, after Melodie Ybarra appeared at his doorstep, crying for help. Tipton told the fire dispatcher that the home was “fully engulfed in flames,” 911 tapes show.

Firefighters never got a chance to enter the three-bedroom home because the roof above the living room already was buckling when they arrived. It collapsed shortly thereafter.

Fire officials and neighbors have said that a smoke detector might have saved lives. Melodie Ybarra, 36, told investigators that the family’s only working smoke alarm, which was attached to a wall outside the children’s bedrooms, was taken down a few weeks before the fire because it was broken, and was not replaced.

But Ybarra said in an interview Tuesday that she was not sure if her husband had fixed the alarm and put it back.

She also expressed surprise that the fire might have started in the attic, which she said was a small space where nothing was stored.

Ybarra told investigators that she and the children had turned in for the night, and the last she knew, her husband was watching television in the living room.

“They can’t pinpoint the cause because there’s a lot of information missing,” Miller said.