Woman, 61, and Girl, 10, Are Killed in Echo Park House Fire; 1 Injured

A 10-year-old girl and an older relative were killed and another woman was critically injured early Friday in a house fire in Echo Park despite desperate efforts by neighbors to rescue the sleeping occupants.

Hearing the screams of the girl’s mother, two rescuers were thwarted by thick smoke billowing from the two-story house in the working-class neighborhood near downtown.

“As soon as I stepped into that door, it was pitch black and I was gagging on the smoke,” said Peter Carrubba, 69, who lives in an adjoining house.

Samantha Camacho was pronounced dead at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles shortly after the 1 a.m. fire in the 1000 block of West Figueroa Terrace. The cause of death had not been determined, but smoke inhalation was suspected.

Yolanda Lim, 61, died late Friday at Good Samaritan Hospital, officials said. A 78-year-old woman, whose name was not released, suffered severe smoke inhalation and were hospitalized. Neighbors said the older woman and Lim were relatives of Samantha.

The girl’s mother, whom officials did not identify, escaped the flames. Her cries for help woke neighbors.

Neighbor Eddie Chavez Sr., 61, said a wrought-iron fence encircling the Camacho and Carrubba residences delayed his rescue attempt for crucial moments “that seemed like forever.”

“The gate was locked, and the mother was screaming her daughter’s name hysterically but she couldn’t open it,” Chavez said. After the mother raced between the house and fence several times, “she gathered her composure” and unlocked the gate, he said.

But Chavez couldn’t enter the home because of the choking smoke.

The victims were carried out of the house by firefighters, who found all three in cardiac arrest and began resuscitation efforts on the front lawn, fire officials said. Sergio Camacho, the girl’s father, works a night job and was not home at the time, they said.

Carrubba described Samantha as a happy child who was always smiling and could often be seen riding her pink bike in the neighborhood.

“Her parents adored her,” he said. “She was very smart.”

Investigators said the blaze was accidental, possibly caused by the home’s outdated knob-and-tube wiring. The fire is believed to have started on the second floor.

Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said the house had functioning hard-wired smoke alarms on the bottom floor. But investigators found only one battery-type smoke alarm upstairs where the girl and two women were located.

“It was discovered to be nonfunctional and missing a battery,” Humphrey said.

Fire officials were unsure if the first-floor devices sounded, but Carrubba and Chavez said they heard no alarms.

City law requires smoke alarms outside each bedroom and in the hallway outside sleeping areas in any new construction. In existing single-family homes, owners are required to install them only if applying for a remodeling permit or selling, Humphrey said.

Carrubba said the home he rents had no smoke alarms when he moved in five months ago, but he insisted on having them installed. Sergio Camacho came over two months ago and put in five, Carrubba recalled.

“He said, ‘I’ve got to do that to my house.’ ”