Six die in San Bernardino house fire; screams wake neighbors

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) -- Six people, four of them children, died early Monday in a house fire in a modest neighborhood that was awakened by screams. Three people got out alive.

Flames were reported on North San Anselmo Avenue about 3:20 a.m. and firefighters arrived seven minutes later, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Howard Bennett. The fire was doused about 20 minutes later.

Three girls, ranging in age from 8 to 12, and one boy, either 4 or 5, along with the women, were killed, said Battalion Chief Allen Simpson. The victims all were related, but their names were not immediately determined.

Bennett said firefighters found no drug making devices or toxic materials.

"Nothing out of the ordinary from household combustibles," he said.

The fire started in one section, gutting the house. We're trying to pinpoint its origin," Bennett said.

The Mendez family next door heard frantic screams.

"All I just heard was screaming, screaming for help," Mariela Mendez told KABC-TV in Los Angeles. "I went outside to check what was going on and I just saw fire everywhere."

The 18-year-old Mendez said her parents also heard screaming and all ran next door to find a man yelling, "Open the door! Open the door!" at two girls scrambling to get out an entrance encased by a metal security door.

Mendez's father grabbed an ax to hit the metal door with, but by the time he returned the girls had unlocked it. One girl cried: "My brother's in there, could you please get him out." The other girl was crying for her mother.

The Mendez family then grabbed plastic buckets and quart-size ice cream containers and garden hoses to wet down their house as flames leaped out of barred security windows next door.

"We were spraying down the roof so it wouldn't catch fire," Mariela Mendez said.

Mendez said the survivors told her the fire began in the center of the living room.

Chief Simpson said the surviving adult was sleeping in the garage.

Cause of the fire was not immediately determined. There were no smoke detectors in the house.

It was believed the victims died of smoke inhalation, but the coroner was to make the final determination.

Fourteen-year-old Erica Holmes stood behind yellow police tape staring at the gutted home Monday morning. She ran several blocks after she heard of the fire on television news reports.

"My two little sisters used to play down at their house," Holmes said.

Four people who identified themselves as relatives also stood behind police tape that blocked the street. They strained to try and see where the survivors were being interviewed by authorities.

"They haven't told us anything," a woman said, adding that she didn't want to talk further.